Posts Tagged ‘LGBT-Affirming Religious Voices’
Finding Wholeness In Community
As a parent of two young children, I make many trips to the public library and I read many children’s books. I can be a bit of a children’s book snob, picking what appears to be a high-brow picture book based on the inclusion of a Caldecott or Newbury award sticker, or by literally judging…
Read MoreHow An Amended Apology Overture Could Pave A Charitable Way Forward
I am pretty certain that many American LGBTQ Christians envy the position of their Presbyterian cousins. Over the past several years the papers covered our progress: the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) opening ordination to LGBTQ people in 2011 and adopting a definition of marriage to include same-sex couples in 2015. I expect many Catholic, Methodist and…
Read MoreQuestions Remain After Bishops Address United Methodist Church’s Anti-LGBTQI Policies
As spirit-filled protests and demonstrations of support for LGBTQI people fill the halls of the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in Portland, the Council of Bishops that serves the denomination has put forward a historic proposal that will be considered by the gathered delegates before the Conference ends on May 20. The United Methodist Church’s…
Read MoreIn Defense Of Thomas’ Doubt
The Apostle Thomas gets a raw deal. Really, in mainstream American Christianity, and in the secular popular imagination, he gets reduced to some kind of one-dimensional figure, known only for a moment in which he was proven wrong. He’s “Doubting Thomas,” the one witness to the resurrected Christ who takes a moment to think rationally…
Read More500+ LGBTQI Christian Leaders Stand In Solidarity With Our United Methodist Colleagues
To our LGBTQI colleagues in ministry in the United Methodist Church, As you gather for General Conference and engage in difficult conversations around inclusion, we are sending you so much love and light. We sign this letter as openly LGBTQI clergy, future pastors, and faith leaders in our own denominations who stand with you in…
Read MoreUnitarian Universalist Trans Religious Professionals Gather For First-Ever Retreat
Last month marked a historic occasion. From Monday April 11 through Thursday April 14, fifteen Unitarian Universalist transgender and genderqueer ministers and religious educators gathered together in a first-ever retreat at the beautiful Asilomar retreat center in Pacific Grove, California. They were joined by trans elder, author, and activist Kate Bornstein, who facilitated the gathering,…
Read MoreA Love Letter To Our Church From Your LGBTQI Religious Leaders
Originally posted by Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), the letter below caused RMN’s website to crash due to an overload of traffic just hours after the letter’s release. Believe Out Loud is honored to host a copy of this historic letter, and we stand in solidarity today with the 111 LGBTQI clergy and candidates below. Dear…
Read MoreThe Source Of My Hope For The United Methodist Church
As a young queer and trans person seeking ordination in The United Methodist Church, I am incredibly blessed to have a wealth of role models to look to as I imagine the type of minister I hope to become. This may seem a strange thing to say in a denomination that has written discrimination against…
Read MoreThe Story Of Resurrection Is A Story Of Transition
Easter Sunday. A day of many questions and confusion within a hope-filled community. We still don’t know exactly what happened that night and moment. We can’t begin to imagination what folks were experiencing and feeling. As we reflected together this year over the snippets shared in the gospels, we immersed ourselves in imagining the fear…
Read MoreGovernor McCrory Should Look To Georgia On LGBT Rights
ADD YOUR NAME: Tell North Carolina Lawmakers To Repeal HB2 From a distance, Gov. Nathan Deal and Gov. Pat McCrory appear to be similar. Both are conservative governors of Southern states where religion plays a strong role in public and private lives. They both live and govern during times of rapid change, particularly with the…
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