Posts by pwsbuilder
2016’s Top Ten Moments In the LGBTQI Christian Movement
DONATE TODAY: Help LGBTQI-Affirming Christians Stand Up to Faith-Based Hate in 2017 Each year, Believe Out Loud compiles a list of the top ten moments in the LGBTQI Christian movement. This year in particular, we have struggled to compile a list that necessarily includes the moments of grief and disappointment we’ve experienced as a community.…
Read MoreUnafraid to Follow Stars
Tis the season! Those of us in ministry have spent this Advent rallying our minds, hearts, and spirits to find celebratory tones of hope. I fear that much like our march towards resurrection, without wanting to look at the harsh and ugly realities of state and religious violence that took Jesus to the cross, we…
Read MoreDr. Keisha E. McKenzie Named New Director Of Believe Out Loud
New York, NY: Intersections International is pleased to announce that noted communications and development strategist Dr. Keisha E. McKenzie has been named director of Believe Out Loud, its initiative to empower Christians to work for LGBTQ equality and shatter the false dichotomy between the LGBTQ and Christian communities. Responsible for mobilizing an online community of…
Read MoreComing Out As Trans In An Affirming Faith Community
Click here to find a welcoming church! Affirming pastors can have an immeasurably positive impact in the lives of their LGBTQIA congregants. Hannah Soldner, a Believe Out Loud blogger, is lucky to have three affirming pastors who accompany her on her faith journey. Rev. Mieke Vandersall, the second openly gay minister to be ordained in…
Read MoreQueering Mary, Queering Christmas
It’s no secret that the holidays are often a difficult time for queer people. Disproportionately estranged from family means we often must create our own family. While these chosen families can be tremendously life-giving, it’s tough not to long for our families of origin during Christmas time. Many still in relationship with family are forced…
Read MoreHow This Queer Christian Is Choosing Joy
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let Earth receive her King!” It’s everywhere this time of year—in storefront windows, in the faces of little children as they write detailed letters to Santa, in the elderly couple on our street celebrating the holiday with their host of children and grandchildren, in the eyes of…
Read MoreMight This Be Joy? A Witness To Audacious Love
I struggled to write this reflection. The central focus of Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is the joyful anticipation of Christ’s birth, but how to write convincingly about joy when it eludes me as I wrestle as a single, gay Catholic away from home with the pain of loneliness? The long stretches of…
Read MoreLet The Questions Lead You To Justice
In the wee hours of November 9th, Donald J. Trump became the presumed winner of the Presidential Election. This is an effort that many worked hard to prevent. Many volunteered, canvassed, and even prayed to stop him from making it to the Oval Office. These people understood that the world would be a far more…
Read MoreQueering Advent: Reflections On Courage
“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 As Christians, we know our hope is in the coming of Christ. We hope for God among us. But we do not often consider whether we are ready. How can we prepare…
Read MoreThe Courage To Stand
As we journey through Advent we actively—wait. I am of Lakota heritage, and hold in my heart, in my prayers, and in my spirit, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, also waiting, and doing so actively. For well over a year the tribe has been objecting to a proposed route for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),…
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