Christianity

A boy is playing in a playground with a large dome.

An Open Letter To Sunnie Kahle (And Christian Tomboys Everywhere)

By pwsbuilder / March 27, 2014 /

Dear Sunnie, You don’t know me, but this morning I read an article about you. Ever since then you keep crossing my mind. As I went around town today in my jeans and button-down shirt and sweater, I thought about you. As I came home from the gym tonight, I prayed for you. And all…

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A white church sits on top of a field of corn.

Being Gay In A Bible Belt Congregation

By pwsbuilder / March 11, 2014 /

I’ve been in church since I can remember. I was baptized as a baby in the first Pentecostal church that was ever built in America—Keelville Pentecostal Church—in a tiny community in southeastern Kansas. When I was a kid in the early to mid-eighties, our congregation ran somewhere between 60 and 80 people, two-thirds of which…

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A group of people standing around on a city street.

Ash Wednesday For All

By pwsbuilder / March 6, 2014 / Comments Off on Ash Wednesday For All

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. For Christians it marks the beginning of the Lenten season—a season of preparation leading to Holy Week and Easter. For the second year in a row, I went with members of the Not So Churchy community and the folks from Presbyterian Welcome to New York City’s Union Square to impose ashes on any passersby who…

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A group of people holding signs at the supreme court.

2013’s Top Ten Moments in Christian Faith & LGBTQ Equality

By pwsbuilder / December 30, 2013 /

Donate today to support the movement for Christian faith and LGBTQ equality! This year has brought unprecedented progress toward LGBTQ inclusion and equality in the United States and around the world. Even as we gain traction in our work, debates over Christian faith and LGBTQ equality persist. Here are the top ten moments from these…

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A group of women in blue t - shirts posing for a photo.

Out Under The Rainbow

By pwsbuilder / November 14, 2013 /

Have you ever looked into a person’s face and felt truly needed? Sometimes, I look into the face of another person who definitely needs me in some way, but the need itself is unspoken, unfamiliar, uncomfortable—or out of tune with the time and place—and instead of addressing it, I move on to what’s next, feeling…

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Wondrous Confusion: How My Gender Shimmers In The Fluidity Of Being Bi

By pwsbuilder / November 4, 2013 /

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). It’s easy for me to sympathize with people who express confusion when I share with them that I am bisexual. My sexual orientation confused me for decades and continues to do so occasionally, even now. Like many, I thought the question I was answering for myself was,…

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A painting of a large group of people.

All Saints Day: Why We Need LGBT Saints

By pwsbuilder / November 1, 2013 / Comments Off on All Saints Day: Why We Need LGBT Saints

LGBT saints are important because people are searching for alternative ways to lead loving lives. Churches have tried to control people by burying queer history. The LGBT saints show us not only their place in history, but also our place—because we are all saints who are meant to embody love. We can tap into the…

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A woman praying in a dark church.

Changing Hearts: A Plea For Christian Dialogue

By pwsbuilder / October 31, 2013 / Comments Off on Changing Hearts: A Plea For Christian Dialogue

When I was in college, a friend asked how I as a Christian viewed her as a lesbian. I told her that I didn’t think of her any differently than I did of other non-Christians because I believed any life not based on the Lord Jesus Christ was sinful and destructive. Oof! At least I…

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The sun is setting over a snow covered area with trees.

Full Of Grace & Truth

By pwsbuilder / October 29, 2013 / Comments Off on Full Of Grace & Truth

I was a junior in high school, it was a week after Christmas, and it was bitterly cold. On St. Stephen’s Day a blizzard of Biblical proportions blanketed Massachusetts in a chrysalis of snow. Peripatetic winds had buffeted those icy banks, sculpting them into miniature topographical masterpieces, complete with condensed peaks and vales. I worked…

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A woman holding a baby in a park.

A Letter To My Methodist Daughter

By pwsbuilder / October 28, 2013 /

These are the words I spoke to my sleeping daughter upon returning home from Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend after witnessing the marriage of Joe Openshaw and Bobby Prince, performed by Bishop Melvin Talbert. Dearest child of mine, I wish you could have been there yesterday, as I sat in a church and witnessed history in the making.…

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