Voices
It took Douglas Blanchard’s painting “Jesus Preaches in the Temple” and Kittredge Cherry’s reflections on his series of 24 paintings of Jesus’ life, The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision, to remind me that scripture says several times that Jesus taught in the temple in the midst of the Passion narrative. Of course, most of us remember that when Jesus…
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I remember the first time I heard the name Fred Phelps. Five days before I turned sixteen, Matthew Shepard was brutally attacked in Laramie, Wyoming. One day after I turned sixteen, Matthew Shepard died. Like many of you around the country, I was glued to the news reports. Enter: Fred Phelps. The first I heard of…
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I didn’t go to church much growing up, but that didn’t stop church ideas getting into me. They were just there, like an invisible, odorless gas that you couldn’t help but breathe in until they became part of you, blood and bone. It’s how I learned the Golden Rule, and also how I learned that…
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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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“As a pastor who has served a church where Fred Phelps protested, I have experienced the vitriol he spewed throughout his life. But if my tradition has taught me anything, it has taught me the power of forgiveness. May his funeral be filled with signs that read ‘you are a beloved creature of worth;’ may…
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As we journey through this reflective time of Lent, reflecting on love, sacrifice, transfiguration, pain, fear, and redemption, we also take the time to ponder our friendships, especially around death. March honors the legacy and witness of Archbishop Óscar Romero, a prophetic voice who called for change in church and society—a voice for peace in the midst…
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In the wake of news that Fred Phelps—famed for picketing funerals with signs of hatred toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people—died, I want to take this opportunity to release this statement of prayer for Fred Phelps and his family. Members of the Metropolitan Community Churches do not celebrate the death of Fred Phelps.…
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A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Recently, I learned just how true that is. I’ve written thousands of words over the past several years about how the Church has failed our gay and lesbian family members, friends, and neighbors, and why I, as a minister of the Gospel, seek to welcome and…
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I have been horrified to see the new wave anti-LGBT laws across the country that have been put forward under the guise of “religious freedom,” the idea that freedom of religion requires us to allow people to be mistreated. These laws give a wide range of businesses and services providers the right to deny service…
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During the 2013 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, I caught two films that highlight the impact religious bigotry plays in the actual lives of LGBT individuals. In the film Bridegroom, Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason crafted a full-length documentary out of Shane Bitney Crone’s viral video “It Could Happen to You.” Recorded on the…
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