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I simply cannot pretend to understand as Christian any conversation that includes questions as to whether or not I am an acceptable “way” of being human. I am not a “way” of being human, I am a child of God. For folks who holler about Christians not playing politics, you fundamentally miss the mark. I…
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In June of 2011, New York State legalized marriage for same-sex couples. In the first year, same-sex couples sought me out—from as far as the Deep South and across international boundaries—to officiate at their weddings. I consider it a blessing to be asked. I love the work that I am called to do with…
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I know a lot of Rob Portmans. In my time on staff with the national Log Cabin Republicans, it wasn’t uncommon for me to field quiet, hesitant questions from people who found themselves grappling with an issue that they never thought would touch them so deeply. The Southern chairman of a county GOP with a…
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I know, I know. You hear the word Baptist and you think of exclusionary televangelists or some tiny church in Kansas with colorful signs. I am constantly telling people I’m not THAT kind of Baptist. I am the kind of Baptist who loves freedom, even the freedom of our Baptist forbearers. I also believe that granting…
Read MoreMy parents wrestled with the idea of me marrying my partner. The sanctuary was packed but my father didn’t come. Dad was brought up in the Deep South and my husband looked like the people who had practiced the nauseating hatred of Jim Crow in my father’s hometown. News of the support of our union,…
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This week, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on two cases regarding marriage equality. The constitutionality of both the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), United States v Windsor, and California’s Proposition 8, Hollingsworth v Perry, will be considered. In both cases, a serious argument against same-sex marriage is that, unlike two members of the opposite sex, two members of the same sex cannot…
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I think it would be nice to start the day with a story. A love story. It begins once upon a time in the West Village at a restaurant called Portofino. Edith Windsor was in her early 30s, working at NYU in the ground-breaking computer programming industry. The year was 1963. Edith was about to…
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[Last month,] the U.S. Supreme Court received friend-of-the-court briefs arguing in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples in two historic cases challenging California’s Proposition 8 and the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” or DOMA. As the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of California I signed on to briefs for religious organizations and leaders opposing both Proposition…
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In seminary, I took a whole class on the Book of Job. It was taught by one of my favorite professors, who happens to be the expert on the subject, and what I remember most from our studies is how Job’s afflictions introduced him to the reality of chaos in the world. Once a respected…
Read MoreOkay, here’s the overly-cute truth of it: I love being married. Now, I don’t think marriage is for everybody. I don’t think it’s part of God’s plan for all of us to be cutely married to some cute person and have a bunch of cute kids. As you can probably tell, that’s all a little…
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