Volume 12, Issue 6

This Little Light of Mine

Cover Stories

Strike a Match
By Rev. Candace Chellew
To let our light truly shine, we must – we must – come out. If we are going to change the framing story about GLBT people, we must tell our stories. We must be vocal. We must step out of the shadows and shine!

To Be — Or Not?
By Melissa Capers
You are,” Jesus assures us, “the light of the world.” Our task, I think, is to believe it: “We are the light of the world.” Now, and in our entirety. Our task, then, is just to be.

Buckets and Closets
By Rev. Suzie Chamness
We are truly the most colorful people. We are varied as all the colors of the rainbow and we are differently made. Each of us has a unique light to shine for God and to help all people see the true love that shows through this the rainbow of people.

The World Meets God: Mediating an Introduction
By Lori Heine
We, in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christian community, can show the world some new things about God. Not really new, of course, but apparently unknown to all too many because the religious establishment never mentions them.

Let There Be Light
By John H. Campbell
I now know that we are closest of all to God when we are simply being, allowing ourselves to feel wholly loved by God, and allowing that Love to flow from us — like light, or electricity — to all others in need of it.

Features

Becoming a Transcended Christian: An Interview with Daniel Helminiak
By Rev. Candace Chellew
To become a transcended Christian, one must do more than do good and seek justice. Even fundamentalist Christians can do that, Helminiak said.

The New Christians: An Interview with Emergent Leader Tony Jones
By Rev. Candace Chellew
So, can GLBT people find a home in emergent? As will all things emergent, the answer is, “That depends.”

Archbishop Tutu Speaks Out for GLBT People
By Rev. Jay Emerson Johnson, Ph.D.
Even more moving, Archbishop Tutu also asked for our forgiveness on behalf of the church, which has so often made us, he said, a “lesser part” of God’s creation. He compared this sin to the long tradition of excluding women from ordained ministry. We now see, he said, how such exclusion “impoverished” the church and its work for far too long.

Gay Acceptance Has Advances and Setbacks in Three Denominations
By John Dart
Three of the largest mainline Protestant denominations continue to move to and fro on issues of sexuality, with leaders often expressing concern about whether the churches will survive the turmoil.

There Is No Other Side
By Rev. Candace Chellew
To say that the religious argument against homosexuality is the “other side” of the issue is like saying the flat earthers are the “other side” of the global warming issue. There is simply no “other side” to the issue of our very lives.

Homophobic Professing Christians Defame Christianity
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
What was the fringe a mere thirty years ago has largely overtaken much, if not most, of the institutional Church and most all clergy, and other professing Christians, have not condemned the hate-mongering and hateful rhetoric that has been spewed from all too many pulpits against LGBT people.

A Journey Towards Becoming Family
By Steve Parelli
At last a real Jesus who is not someone simply meshed in with my personal intimate needs so that there is actually no distinction between what I feel and who Jesus appears to be. No, he is the Other, standing apart from me, who has heard my plea and provided for me by giving me a family, a significant other.

We All Have Histories
By Dr. Robert N. Minor
Recognizing that all oppressions intertwine means that I need to learn more about my own prejudices and privilege if I want to change a society that comes down in some way on each one of us.

Letters to the Editor

From the Pulpit

Reflect, Repent, Reboot
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Chaos reigns within when we wander away from God — when we try to take control of our own lives and live apart from God. For order to return, the steps are simple: reflect, repent, reboot.

A Bible Lesson for Liberals
By Rev. Dr. Neal Jones
Today I want to conduct a Bible study, and our Bible study is about prophets. Who are prophets, and what do they do? Many people think prophets tell the future, but prophets in the tradition of the ancient Hebrews told the truth.

Bible Study

God’s Symphony in G Major
By Johan Reiners
As a gay person it lifts me up knowing I’m not a jingle, but a symphony. Not completed yet, but a masterpiece in progress. God’s Symphony in G major!

Can You Hear Me Now?
By Rev. Micah Royal
The Holy Spirit is like a gentleman or a lady, waiting until our hearts are ready to speak to us, to take our hand and guide us.

Holy Humor

An Audience with the Pope

The Archaeologist