Posts Tagged ‘LGBT equality and inclusion’
Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto Becomes United Methodist Church’s First Openly Lesbian Bishop
Reconciling Ministries Network celebrates with great joy the election of the first openly lesbian bishop in The United Methodist Church (The UMC). This is an historic moment in the movement of LGBTQ persons for spiritual and civil equality both in the church and the public square. The election of Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto of Glide…
Read MoreRecap: The Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 222nd General Assembly
The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster as tragic news comes in from every corner of our world. We have watched in horror as the European Union has been divided, as bombs have killed hundreds in holy sites, as a man with a gun slaughtered our kinfolk at a gay bar, as…
Read MoreSr. Jeannine Gramick Decries Catholic Silence After Orlando Massacre
49 people were murdered one month ago at Pulse, a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, and 53 more were wounded. These victims, constituting the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, have stirred conversations about anti-LGBT prejudice and violence and prompted many Catholics to memorialize the victims. Sr. Jeannine Gramick, Co-Founder of New Ways Ministry, says…
Read MoreI’m A Lesbian Christian Unlearning Shame
I’m writing here about what I always, somehow, write about: the unlearning of shame. This is the topic on which I’m most focused. It’s my focus, for in the process of unlearning shame, we simultaneously remember our worth, which connects us to Love. And Love—the inherent sense that we’re both loved and emanations of Love—is…
Read MoreCatholics Welcome Pope Francis’ Call For Church Apology To Gay People, Others
Catholics have begun to welcome Pope Francis’ recommendation that the church apologize to LGBT people, women, and others whom it has harmed. The pope made his remarks during an in-flight press conference on the return flight from his apostolic visit to Armenia over the weekend. Jesuit Fr. James Martin, a noted author and commentator, called…
Read MoreWe Haven’t Done The Work
As I sit at my computer writing this, I am still overwhelmed by shock and grief. Like most, I woke up Sunday morning to the news of Saturday night’s horrific shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Over the course of the day, I followed the updates with growing dread, as the death toll rose and…
Read MoreFinding 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 MoreA Path Forward For LGBT United Methodists
There was no headline proclaiming, “Methodist Church OKs Marriage Equality” or “Methodists Finally Embrace LGBTQ People.” Your newsfeed wasn’t lighting up with “Methodists Go Gay!” or, frankly, anything that looked like victory for LGBTQ people in the third-largest Christian denomination in the United States. Instead, after two weeks of the United Methodist Church’s recently wrapped…
Read MoreAre LGBT Voices Being Silenced in Conversations About Pope Francis’ Recent Publication On Families?
Have Catholics’ analyses of Amoris Laetitia, the recently published exhortation on family by Pope Francis, been dismissive of LGBT communities’ reaction and concerns? Craig Ford, a theology doctoral student at Boston College, claimed on the blog Catholic Moral Theology that liberal Catholics who are not LGBT have too often jettisoned queer and transgender concerns to…
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…
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