LGBTQ welcoming, accepting, affirming. What’s the difference? People often ask me what the difference is between welcoming, accepting and affirming churches. This little infograph will give you some idea. Some churches refuse to go on the journey. Some began the journey, then got stuck, afraid
What’s it like to develop an entire identity around the sexual sin you desire? (Twitter user “Dave”) I’ve often thought about what it means to be human and to step into the person I’ve been created to be. However, we often don’t think about what
Spoiler: Your average affirming church might be resting on its laurels With every passing moment, it becomes increasingly less revolutionary for a progressive Christian congregation to label itself as some combination of open, affirming or welcoming. Denominational schisms notwithstanding, more and more Christians are saying
The 2022 Violence Against Women Act, which Congress re-authorized in March, includes the first federal grant program specifically designed to serve LGBTQ survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence. The new funding could lead to expanded trans-friendly services to which pastors and laypeople can refer
Welcome home! We are delighted you are here. In your worship bulletin is our Welcome Statement. Listen carefully, faithfully as I read it aloud. First Christian Church of Decatur (Disciples of Christ) is an open and affirming congregation. We welcome everyone into full participation in
Hundreds of bishops and priests proclaim ‘Love Wins!’ [Gay people] want the church to hold their life in such value that they are given the blessing of God and not denied it. We must face up to this wish. (Bishop Georg Bätzing, president German Bishops’
The next time you’re confronted with a homophobic or transphobic person who wants to bully you with the Bible, try this simple four-step formula for dealing with the situation, courtesy of the chorus of the Kenny Rogers hit “The Gambler,” whose first four lines go
For a mere six months I had been the new Executive Director of Other Sheep when I first met Dr. Jeri E. Williams, Pastor of Drexel Hill Baptist Church, Drexel Hill, PA. We met at an Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists meeting in New York
Reading for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost: And they took to him little children, so that he might put his hands on them: and the disciples said sharp words to them. And when Jesus saw it, he was angry, and said to them, Let the