Reading about the pending schism of the United Methodist Church, the denomination I grew up in, was a cold but oddly hopeful reminder to me of just how truly glacial the pace of change in the institutional church will be for LGBTQ+ people. Here we
As a child, I remember Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in our home were always a big production. This was the time of year when mom and dad would pull the extra table leaves out of storage and magically make the dining room table two sizes
There are to be no second-class citizens in the United States! We established a long time ago that “separate is not equal,” and all American citizens are entitled to enjoy equality under the law. Any society that presumes to refer to itself as “decent” and
“Of course you would be welcomed at our church!” began the email that I received from an Episcopal priest. My partner and I were moving from Atlanta to a small town in South Carolina in the same year that Gene Robinson was elected bishop of
Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he
Don’t think that just because you live in the king’s house you’re the one Jew who will get out of this alive. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but
Trust can be a noun, but it is also a verb. We can have a thing called trust, but trusting is what we do when we exercise it. A flaccid lump with no muscles can do nothing. Human beings cannot float around freely the way
Most of us remember the Pepsi commercial showing a scene from the 1960 movie, “Spartacus.” One by one the slaves revolt, standing up and declaring “I’m Spartacus!” Kirk Douglas looks on with a tear in his eye, drinking his Pepsi in inspiration. It worked for
As the old hymn says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.” Jesus made clear that the way the world will know we follow Him is by the consideration we show each other. This is why constructive dialogue between Christians is so important.
O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. (Isaiah 3:12) he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. (Isaiah 5:7) Many years ago, I was asked by the then-pastor of