Posts by pwsbuilder
The Boys Who Never Grew Up
My mother said that she never wanted to grow up. That could be why she taught first grade all of her professional life and was beloved by her students. She was one of them. In her later years, she confessed with a laugh, she couldn’t quite “get” that she was the old woman who looked…
Read MoreVatican Drafts New Approach To Gay And Lesbian People
For two weeks, Catholic leaders are gathering for The Extraordinary Synod on Marriage and Family to address “the pastoral challenge of the family in the context of evangelization.” On Monday, the Synod released a relatio, its mid-term report, which offers some hopeful directions in the way that Church leaders should address lesbian and gay people and their families. While this…
Read MoreTop 10 Reflections On Coming Out & Christianity
For the second year in a row, we are honoring National Coming Out Day with this Top Ten list of our favorite blogs on Coming Out & Christianity! No matter how you choose to celebrate this year, we hope these reflections bring you joy and comfort as we consider the spiritual significance of our aspirations…
Read MoreTransgender Faith Tour Extends Reach Beyond Kansas
Four months ago, I decided to begin what I called the Transgender Summer of Faith Tour. My hope was to speak at as many institutions of faith in and around the state of Kansas over the course of the summer. By all accounts, it has been quite successful. I have been blessed with the opportunity to present…
Read MorePride From The Ashes Of Pain
“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned…
Read MoreOne Church, Two Synodal Gatherings
As this blog goes to press, in two cities more than 5,000 miles from each other, flights will be landing, hotels will be checked into, local hosts will undergo a final flurry of preparations as Church leaders gather to pray, deliberate, and work for the future of our Church. In Rome, Italy, this gathering will…
Read MoreA Queer Climate Change?
The streets of New York were thronging with people in the first ever Climate March on September 21. Demonstrators had a message for world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit beginning that week: approve a Climate Treaty that includes strong actions. It was the largest Climate Change March in history with over 400,000 people…
Read MoreDoes Your Church Welcome LGBTQ People?
I hold the church personally responsible for any LGBTQ person who walks away from God and Christianity. Every week, I get emails from individuals all across the country who are full of desire to be a part of a church. They want to go on the church-wide mission trip, join the choir, serve in the…
Read MoreTime For Renovation At Duke University
On August 22, during a Divinity School orientation panel on diversity, Dean of the Divinity School Richard Hays asserted that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” in response to a question about resources for LGBT students. Hays reminded students that the United Methodist Church, the Divinity School’s affiliated denomination, does not ordain…
Read MoreMy “Dark Night Of The Soul”
Reading Walter Brueggemann’s contrasting of Psalms 73 and 139 in an essay entitled, “The Cunning Little Secret of Certitude,” in his book The Covenanted Self (see a previous post), I remembered how Psalm 73 saved me from my own “dark night of the soul” that followed the ending of what I thought would be a lifelong relationship within…
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