Posts Tagged ‘LGBT people of faith’
Coming Out As Trans* In The ELCA
My Dad was a progressive pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for most of his ministry. He preached his last sermon on the Gospel of social justice at the age of 88 and passed on to glory in 2012 at the age of 92. Throughout my childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, I…
Read More“If I Could Straighten Out!”: That’s What He Told Me
My name is Johnie Guerra. I’m straight and happily married with four wonderful boys. I’m the grandson of two pastors and my parents did their best to raise me with a Bible-based upbringing. Recently, I’ve started attending a church with an inclusive ministry for LGBT people, volunteering at a youth group for LGBT kids, and…
Read MoreFather Robert Nugent Passes Into Eternal Life
When few priests would do more than whisper about homosexuality, Father Nugent was meeting with people who identified as LGBTQ and encouraging them to claim their rightful place in the Catholic Church. During a time of intense homophobia in both church and society, he exhibited uncommon courage and foresight in welcoming and affirming the goodness…
Read MoreDC Events Launch LGBT Faith & Asylum Network
The LGBT Faith and Asylum Network (LGBT-FAN) invites you to help launch our LGBT Faith and Asylum Network. We are helping people who are seeking safety in the U.S. because of persecution of their sexual orientation or gender identity in their home countries. The Network is made up of faith leaders, asylum-seekers, people who have…
Read MoreChristmas In The Closet
My brother has been with his girlfriend for 6 months, and she’s spending Christmas with my family this year. My first thought was, Whoa. What the hell?! It’s not that I don’t like her. I do! But as someone who lived in the closet of a secret relationship for years, I cannot relate to the…
Read MoreA Duck Dynasty Christmas
It’s only days until Christmas, and I, like many LGBT people, spent much of the day alternately dodging and engaging yet another “gays vs. Christians” media firestorm. Even if you’ve never heard of him before, by now you’ve probably heard about Phil Robertson. Robertson is the patriarch of A&E’s hit show Duck Dynasty, and he…
Read MoreSharing Our Nativity Stories
We each have our own “nativity story.” Mine is that it was a difficult birth, a prolonged labor, my mother turned blue, my father told the doctor she needed oxygen, I was born feet first, my legs were crooked and doctors wanted to put braces on them, but my mother resisted, choosing another therapy: massaging…
Read MoreMary Ann Barclay Reinstated In Methodist Ordination Process
Mary Ann (Kaiser) Barclay, a candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church who was preemptively removed from her ordination process after she married a woman, will have the opportunity to continue pursuing ordination. In June 2013, Barclay as removed from her ordination process by the Southwest Texas Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. Barclay was…
Read MoreAll Saints Day: Why We Need LGBT Saints
LGBT saints are important because people are searching for alternative ways to lead loving lives. Churches have tried to control people by burying queer history. The LGBT saints show us not only their place in history, but also our place—because we are all saints who are meant to embody love. We can tap into the…
Read More