From its creation in 1968, The United Methodist Church has struggled to hold traditional interpretations of biblical sexuality with a theology of an inclusive and grace-filled God. In the Book of Discipline, the guiding organizational document for the UMC, we state that sexuality is “God’s good gift to all persons” and
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In social justice and in Sunday school, we need to pay more attention to the lessons we can learn from kids. When I joined a volunteer committee to rework my church’s Sunday school policies, I was reminded of the recent Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic, On the Basis of Sex. The
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In May 2016, the church I served hosted Garrard Conley for a reading from his book Boy Erased. A week before the reading, I got the call from my colleague at the book store. She wanted to review details for the event in light of a conversation she had with
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This article was originally published on November 9, 2016 on Denise’s blog, ‘SOULa Scriptura” at The United States of America has elected Donald Trump its next president. It’s sinking in as I type that. We (the royal “we”) elected Donald Trump, a beloved child of the Most High God. We
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A Response to Dr. Barbara Wheeler Barbara Wheeler, former President of Auburn Theological Seminary has written an article in response to Overture 11-05 coming before the General Assembly this summer in Portland, an overture apologizing to LGBTQ/Q members of the PC(USA) for “harms done”. Wheeler does not contest the damages
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Gender Justice 2014 Week 1 Stories That Need to Be Told, Rev. Ginna Bairby Daughters of Eve: Biblical Women Take Back the Microphone, Miriam Foltz and Rachel Shepherd The Cry of Tamar, Rev. Marci Auld Glass Re-Imagining “Re-Imagining” and the Next 20 Years, Sylvia Thorson-Smith Re-Imagining God: Reflections on
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Over the course of my life, I have observed and participated in the ongoing fight for inclusion of people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer in the church. In recent years, significant strides have been made in several denominations, including the eradication of official barriers that have previously
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The author of this article has asked to remain anonymous so that the prejudice of others does not blind them to seeing her gifts for ministry during her process of preparation and ordination. Let us take this as a reminder that in many places and situations, it is still not
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It took me a very long time to allow myself the mental space to think that I might be transgender. I tried for years to ignore the pain associated with moving in the world when everyone saw me as a girl. Even when I did let myself think about what
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McCormick Theological Seminary What McCormick has modeled for us is that if we love each other in deep need, across boundaries, and, especially, at the table, community is possible. By Abby Mohaupt and TC Anderson View and print as PDF. At McCormick Theological Seminary, we are family, building
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