On May 28, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments
5/28 Imagine what it would be like to have heard your whole life that God doesn’t love you for who you are. Now, imagine sitting in church on Pentecost Sunday, reading the section on the Holy Spirit from The Brief Statement of Faith (1983) and hearing the entire church repeat these words: “The Spirit sets […]
On May 21, 2010 ⋅ 8 comments
5/21 What does it mean to “Believe Out Loud”? I recently found out at a daylong orientation to the Believe Out Loud Campaign where Rachel, of the Reconciling Ministries Network of the United Methodist Church, led about twenty of us in learning how to do just that. We learned that to Believe Out Loud means […]
On May 7, 2010 ⋅ 9 comments
5/7 Start reminiscing with anyone who attended the PCUSA 218th General Assembly in San Jose, CA and the rainbow scarves worn by so many there will undoubtedly come up. Attractive, colorful and practical for the air conditioned chill of a convention center meeting room, they spread by word of mouth: someone without one asked someone […]
On Apr 30, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments
4/30 Among the agreements at the end of the Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage Final Report, this one struck me the most: “We agree that Christian marriage is not a “right” conferred upon anyone, but a gift given to us by God to nurture and form human beings into […]
On Apr 23, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments
4/22 “Why are some people gay?” This is a question that remains confusing and unanswered for many. However, answering it satisfactorily will carry us a long way toward finding the harmony in the church that has eluded us for a long time. The answer in Scripture is clear: For it was you who formed my […]
On Apr 9, 2010 ⋅ No comments
4/9 Easter dawns; the tomb is empty. The women rush to tell the other disciples that Jesus has risen. Then He comes to them on the road, in the workplace, in the upper room. The hope this experience inspired in Jesus’ followers powerfully reverberates into our lives this Easter Week. So what does it mean […]
On Apr 2, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments
Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee? Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee! ‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee: I crucified Thee. (The 1933 Hymnal, 158) On this deepest and darkest of days — the day we relive Jesus’ suffering and death — this declaration of my collusion in […]
On Mar 26, 2010 ⋅ 3 comments
3/26 A Christian struggling with the place of GLBT people in the church asked me, “So how is hugging someone going to alter my understanding of the Bible?” The crucial and complicated question came in response to a piece I’d written encouraging Christians and GLBT people to start talking to — rather than about — […]
On Mar 12, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments
3/12 Last week the District of Columbia began accepting applications for marriage licenses from GLBT couples and, this week, after a mandatory waiting period, the weddings have begun. Now, amidst the first celebrations, the question is being asked again, as it was in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and, for a time, California: What […]
On Mar 4, 2010 ⋅ No comments
3/4/10 As Christians, we are called to follow Jesus’ example, embracing all the faithful within the church. Yet many good Christians struggle to reconcile this central teaching with their understanding of certain passages from Scripture that seem to preclude any place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender believers. To live out my heartfelt desire to […]
