A Lenten Pause to Give Up and Question

Christ’s Lenten lesson for us may simply be this: our listening to one another has not, and may never, bring us to agreement on things that are important to us, but it does bring us together to have an honest, heartfelt conversation.

It is My Joy to Introduce You to My Uncles

They were a couple committed to one another in a time where they faced severe stigma.

Christ Has No Body On Earth But Ours

Christ has no body on earth but ours; Ours are the only hands which Christ can use to work, Ours are the only feet with which Christ can go about the world, Ours are the only eyes through which Christ’s compassion can shine forth upon a troubled world. Christ has no body on earth now […]

How Micah 6:8 Informs My Faith

And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 I recently cited this beautiful verse in Micah in a piece for the Washington Post On Faith panel. I was struck by a commenter on that forum who criticized my […]

Marriage and Infertility

Last fall, one of the frequently asked questions about marriage and gay and lesbian couples was posed during a discussion at Princeton Theological Seminary: If gay and lesbian couples can’t have children then how can they legitimately be married since the primary purpose of marriage is the bearing of children? At the time, I replied […]

The Brief Statement of Faith: Beyond Either/Or

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been talking with ministers and elders across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) about Amendment 10-A. Voting on the amendment will continue through the next few months and, if ratified, 10-A would allow our congregations and presbyteries to ordain gay or lesbian elders and ministers they deem ready to serve in […]

How the Creation Stories in Genesis Inform My Faith

12/10 Recently my friend Thomas Waters cited Genesis 1:31 as a Biblical foundation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion in the church: “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” For me, there is simply no exception to “everything,” both in these beautiful descriptions of God’s creations that we […]

How You Can Help to Restore the Presbyterian Way

12/3 Today, I received my copy of The Presbyterian Outlook in the mail which has on its back cover an advertisement from More Light Presbyterians that makes the heartfelt case for voting Yes on Amendment 10-A for our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I think this ad is wonderful and striking. As a Samaritan, the woman at […]

I Give Thanks that It Gets Better

One of the elements of Thanksgiving that I hold dear is that it is celebrated, year in and year out, no matter what the circumstances surrounding the day may be. In the times of deepest distress in our country — I think of the Civil War or the Great Depression — Thanksgiving was celebrated. In […]

PresbyMEME: Why I am voting yes on Amendment 10a

11/12 Bruce Reyes-Chow, pastor of the Mission Bay Community Church in San Francisco and Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from 2008 to 2010, has started a new project on his blog he calls “PresbyMEME: Why I am voting yes on Amendment 10a.” In his blog post describing the project he writes: “. . . […]