Spiritual Affirmation
As I look upon the faces and read the names of the 14 people murdered during a holiday party of colleagues serving the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, I am reminded of why I love the United States of America. I see men and women of diverse national and racial and ethnic ancestries. I see…
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Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there….If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night’, even the darkness is not dark to…
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As Transgender Awareness Week comes to a close, we pause today to honor the journeys of transgender and gender non-conforming people of faith by sharing the 10 journey stories below. These blogs are all written by transgender people of faith, a majority of whom identify as Christian. While these stories share the perspectives of individuals,…
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My grandmother sat on green rocking chairs, in South Dallas Porches, singing songs like “Cheerios, Cheerios, push them to the bottom of the bowl and then they rise to the top.” My grandmother sat on green rocking chairs, in South Dallas porches, right in front of the drug dealers, in the midst of gun shots,…
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We are not the same America. We are not the same America that we were 20 or even 10 years ago. For decades, civil liberties framed the discourse about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) justice. Now marriage, a union that is sacred for so many, is at the forefront of our national consciousness in…
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The Charleston legislature voted to make the Confederate flag a relic of the past! Inside I cheered! Then, I paused and took a moment to reflect on the agony and the ecstasy of recent weeks. We celebrated in the midst of grief as we gained marriage equality. When throngs kissed and danced in the street…
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In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision broadening the understanding of marriage, those who have fought same-gender marriage now express fears that they will be called upon to do things their consciences will not permit and are clamoring for “religious liberty.” It’s ironic that those who denied religious liberty to LGBT people in…
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For many Christians, icons are windows to God. They make the Ultimate accessible through divinely-inspired human artistry. Worldly subjects–almost exclusively holy people and their environments–draw readers outward and upward, beyond what is present, towards what is Holy. Artist Gabriel Garcia Roman’s icons of queer and trans* people of color achieve similar ends for me, employing real people…
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Spearheaded by The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), its founder and presiding Bishop Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder and executive director, Bishop-Elect, Pastor Joseph Tolton, the organization’s international outreach ministry The Fellowship Global (TFG) has launched a month long tour of key African nations where LGBTI communities continue to experience extreme discrimination and persecution. These countries include:…
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On Easter Day, I spent some time reflecting on what this holiday is like for those who feel estranged from their church communities because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. For most of us who grew up in church, there was a time when the words “Happy Easter! He is risen” only ever brought…
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