Uncategorized

A crowd of people in a church.

Coming Out Christian

By pwsbuilder / August 1, 2011 / Comments Off on Coming Out Christian

Coming out as Christian means coming out for love. Last Sunday, July 24, I went to the Manhattan Marriage Bureau on the first day same-sex couples could marry legally in New York State, dressed in my purple clergy robe. I went to congratulate couples and offer a religious wedding to any who might want it.…

Read More
A rainbow is seen over a road and church.

Out Of The Lion’s Den: Thoughts From A Believe Out Loud Intern

By pwsbuilder / July 27, 2011 / Comments Off on Out Of The Lion’s Den: Thoughts From A Believe Out Loud Intern

As a gay Southern Baptist, I have not felt particularly motivated to attend church in the past few years. Homophobia, hypocrisy, and attacks are common in the black Baptist church. Every time you go to church, you never know when a preacher is going to launch in an anti-gay tirade. You are not encouraged to…

Read More
Two young men kissing in front of a crowd of people.

Across The Aisle: Marriage Equality And Its Role In Changing The Church

By pwsbuilder / June 29, 2011 / Comments Off on Across The Aisle: Marriage Equality And Its Role In Changing The Church

I have never understood the wedding practice of seating people according to their relationship to one of the betrothed. Maybe this tradition made sense when marriage was purely an economic act: two families, each seated behind their son or daughter, were also entering into a contract. When the intended recited their vows, each side of…

Read More
A group of people wearing rainbow colored socks and converse shoes.

Does Your Church Walk The Talk?

By pwsbuilder / June 2, 2011 / Comments Off on Does Your Church Walk The Talk?

As we enter the month of June, where do your thoughts turn? Graduation parties? Father’s Day? The promise of long summer days and warm summer nights? What about blocked off streets festooned with rainbow flags? Does June mean PRIDE to you?  There are literally hundreds of PRIDE parades held every year…in both expected big city…

Read More
A group of people clapping in a church.

Conversations Will Move Christians Towards LGBT Welcome

By pwsbuilder / May 24, 2011 / Comments Off on Conversations Will Move Christians Towards LGBT Welcome

Two weeks into our campaign to join A Million People for LGBT-Inclusive Christianity, Believe Out Loud has reached its first milestone, topping 10,000 online members. Perhaps even more significantly, we have sparked conversations in new places about the role of LGBT equality in the wider “progressive Christian” movement. Aided in part by Sojourners’ decision not…

Read More
A man in a suit sitting at a desk.

24 Hours To Stop Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill

By pwsbuilder / May 12, 2011 / Comments Off on 24 Hours To Stop Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill

Tomorrow, Uganda’s Parliament is scheduled to take up its “Anti Homosexuality Bill”, a proposed law that is appalling in its inhumanity. The law would execute gays who are considered “serial offenders” and impose life sentences on individuals who engage in a single homosexual act. Anti-gay Christians, many of them from America, have been at the…

Read More
A large church with many people sitting in pews.

Got Moms? An Ad About Church Welcome

By pwsbuilder / May 6, 2011 / Comments Off on Got Moms? An Ad About Church Welcome

Happy Mother’s Day from Believe Out Loud

Read More