Christianity
My first kiss was with my next-door neighbor—a young boy in my class. It was back when I didn’t know what it meant to be queer, what it meant to be bisexual, what it meant to be trans. We were together under a flagpole at recess, he told me that the previous night was “Hershey’s…
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Have you ever felt like you’re not where you’re supposed to be? I’m not talking about misreading directions and getting lost. I’m talking about being in a place, a dynamic, a behavior where your gut tells you, “I’m not supposed to be here.” Recent storms ravaged Houston. Christ United Church of Cypress was flooded; their…
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I didn’t grow up in a tradition that observed Lent. Perhaps they found it too Catholic for their belief system. Now I minister in a church that observes Lent, Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday. To say that it was a steep learning curve for me is an understatement. It wasn’t that I couldn’t theoretically…
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Within my Christian upbringing, I attempt at being a spiritual person. I believe that our spirituality and faith is a source of strength and hope. Unfortunately, I have seen religion too oftentimes be a firmly held set of rituals beholden to a literal and legalistic interpretation. Historically and currently, religion is a source of spiritual…
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The dust is settling from the cultural upheaval of the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that established marriage equality across the United States and, in my Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the almost simultaneous adoption of a description of marriage as “between two people,” which permits pastors to preside at the weddings of two people…
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As people who believe that Christianity has room for the LGBTQ community, we can be zealous about our efforts to win people to our side. We want people to understand that God truly does love everyone, that the Bible isn’t just a queer bashing book, and that people don’t have to throw away their faith…
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On Sunday I took communion for the first time in more than a year. I hadn’t been avoiding it deliberately, but I realized just how long it had been as I approached the line to receive bread and wine (juice). I’ve heard the phrases “The body of Christ broken for you;” “The blood of Christ shed…
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I am deeply conflicted by the news coverage about the Pope’s meeting with Kim Davis. I am also deeply troubled by the way that many of my friends have responded to this news. I have witnessed vitriol and even some hatred. I have seen a great deal of anti-Catholic sentiment and statements that portray an…
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There is a mighty move of God happening. It’s been going on for a while but it is growing in momentum! God is sending people to the very doors of God’s sanctuary all over this country. However, attachment to tradition may cause the church to miss a Golden Opportunity to show Christ’s love to those…
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Christian persecution in the United States is real. It’s just not what you think. Christian persecution isn’t about having to offer birth control to women. It’s not about having to serve wedding cakes to gay and lesbian couples. Christian persecution isn’t even having people call you out when you spout homophobic, sexist, or racist opinions,…
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