Reclamation's insights are threefold; addressing the clobber verses and how they have been used to cause profound harm, personal lived Queer realities and a way forward for Queer persons of faith and ally's. As a Queer pastor, Cawthon-Freels offers a unique and carefully considered perspective alongside sound research. Cawthon-Freels provides an equally effective healing balm to those who desperately need it, filled with sensitivity, clarity, and wisdom - that holds no punches. She offers lessons full of love instead of hate and instruction instead of condemnation, moving us beyond deconstruction. Enjoy.

“… every five hundred years or so, the church has an epic, theological, doctrinal, ecclesial, and spiritual rummage sale.” And Phyllis Tickle claims the next 'rummage sale' is happening now. Shifts are indeed afoot. As a renowned religion expert, editor, and speaker, Tickle reflects on our pivotal time in Church history and describes an exciting path for the future.

Jared Byas casts a new vision for the Christian life that's built not on certainty, but on the risk of love. A biblically-based Christian life is not grounded in having all the answers but in a living relationship. This ultimately shifts our focus from collecting the "right" answers to loving others deeply and authentically. With stories and insights drawn from his years as a pastor, professor, and podcast host, Jared Byas calls us back to the heart of the Bible: that truth is only true when it's lived out in love.

Whatever stage of the journey you are on, public theologian and pastor Brandan Robertson shares how to move your Church from a mere 'welcome' - to a radical embrace. Pointing to a clear biblical imperative for radical inclusivity in the sanctuary and public square, Robertson presents a paradigm-shifting vision of community, "where nothing is simple, nothing is easy, but everything is beautiful." Learn practical, step-by-step approaches to becoming deeply, robustly, and richly inclusive of all people regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, and socioeconomic status.

Journalist and pastor Mark Wingfield describes how the congregation he serves undertook a detailed study of how the Church should respond to the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender members. It is written for clergy and lay leaders who need a helpful guide to conversations about human sexuality within congregations. Also, check out Wingfield here: A Pastor and a Transgender Christian Walk Into a Church

A Bigger Table invites readers to envision a big enough Church for everyone by holding up a mirror to the modern Church and speaking clearly on issues at the heart of the Christian community: LGBT inclusion, gender equality, racial tensions, global concerns, and theological shifts. John Pavlovitz shares moving personal stories, his careful observations as a pastor, and his understanding of the ancient stories of Jesus to set the table for a new, positive, more loving conversation on these and other vital matters of faith. Though many would remove chairs and whittle down the guest list, we can build the bigger table Jesus imagined, practising radical hospitality, total authenticity, messy diversity, and agenda-free community.

Love these stories! The stories of LGBT+ Christians are not untold but have often been unheard by faith leaders and communities. The conversation about LGBT+ inclusion has focused on theology and ideology, but few have actually interacted with the raw, real stories and experiences of LGBT+ Christians. Brandan Robertson has brought together stories of LGBT+ Christians worldwide with his theological insights to create a powerful book that will challenge, convict, and inspire readers from all theological backgrounds.

Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance – Emily Swan & Ken Wilson ​ Highly Recommended As co-founders of Blue Ocean Faith, Swan and Wilson are pioneering what it means to be post-evangelical—post-Protestant, even—in a time when such re-imagining is desperately needed. Solus Jesus not only grapples with the authority question in Christianity but also provides a massive rethink of current and traditional atonement theories.

Fitch is a courageous, alarmingly clear, generous, and thoughtful soul that has made the arduous journey. The cost was great - great things often are. Fitch describes his own story of gradually realising that this truth would lead to a new way of seeing and accepting people with different sexuality. He shares the stories of university students and family members and of a church that wrestled deeply with these issues. He believes that there are times when the heart can be a better theologian than the brain and that churches would do well to learn to embrace people of different sexuality. Learning to Interpret Toward Love is a theological explanation of why this is a path to a better future - of inclusiveness and radical hospitality while maintaining Scripture's integrity.

Highly recommended book that tackles the emotional, exegetical, spiritual, pastoral, and relational journey with compassion and understanding. Wilson shows how God has led him on a journey toward a rethinking of what the fully authoritative and inspired Bible ought to be taken to mean in the life of the Church today.

Outlove is about love and losses, political and religious power-plays, and the cost to those who sought to stay in a faith community that wouldn't accept them. Shedding light on the debate between Evangelical Christians and the LGBTQ community--a battle that continues to rage on in the national news and in courtrooms across the country--this book ultimately casts a hopeful vision for how the church can heal.

Rivera calls to mind Jesus's woe to religious leaders: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4). Heavy Burdens provides an honest account of seven ways LGBTQ people experience discrimination in the church, helping Christians grapple with hard realities and empowering churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward.

LGBTQ people are a gift to the Church and have the potential to revitalize Christianity. As an openly lesbian Episcopal priest and professional advocate for LGBTQ justice, the Reverend Elizabeth Edman has spent her career grappling with the core tenets of her faith. After deep reflection on her tradition, Edman is struck by the realization that her queer identity has taught her more about how to be a good Christian than the church.

This practical pastoral care handbook, written by two self-described queer people of faith, covers the basic skills that religious caregivers and ministry students need in order to be effective, enlightened, and supportive pastoral care providers to LGBTQ persons in congregational and other community settings.

A confession and manifesto from a senior leader in the emerging church movement. A Generous Orthodoxy calls for a radical, Christ-centered orthodoxy of faith and practice in a missional, generous spirit.

In our busy lives, we often sideline prayer and spiritual practice, or wrap the subject up in a tangle of guilt-driven showmanship and ‘self-motivation’. Stripping away the jargon that we can often get caught up in, NAKED SPIRITUALITY presents the core concepts of prayer in a fresh and accessible way. Using twelve words as a structure, he shows how we can connect with God in practical, doable and durable ways, and use that connection to serve others.

Radical Love is the first introductory textbook on the subject of queer theology. In this lucid and compelling introduction, Cheng provides a historical survey of how queer theology has developed from the 1950s to today and then explicates the themes of queer theology using the ecumenical creeds as a general framework. Topics include revelation, God, Trinity, creation, Jesus Christ, atonement, sin, grace, Holy Spirit, church, sacraments, and last things, as seen through the lenses of LGBT theologians.

n this book, theologian Letty Russell redefines the commonly held notion of hospitality as she challenges her readers to consider what it means to welcome the stranger. In doing so, she implores persons of faith to join the struggles for justice. Rather than an act of limited, charitable welcome, Russell maintains that true hospitality is a process that requires partnership with the "other" in our divided world. The goal is "just hospitality," that is, hospitality with justice.

This rich and diverse collection of sermons, essays, and worship elements explores how to preach, teach, and practice Open, Relational, and Process theological perspectives in local faith communities. It is a powerful resource for pastors, ministers of worship arts, lay church leaders, professors of preaching, worship, and practical theology, and anyone seeking a deep understanding of God that aligns with the Bible, science, and inclusive love and justice for all life on Earth.

Thomas Jay Oord presents a theology that makes sense. It fits the way we live our lives and matches our deepest intuitions. To the surprise of some, it harmonizes with sacred scripture... at least the good parts. And it promotes a genuinely loving God. Open and relational theology is controversial. Oord and others have lost their jobs because they embrace it. Others have been booted from religious communities or shunned by families and friends. It’s that radical! Using understandable language and illustrations from everyday life, Oord explains

The author seeks "to encourage and equip Christian faith communities to move beyond the decades-long stalemate over human sexuality and gender identity" because "Queer gifts emerge in Christian communities when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people no longer feel compelled to justify their presence in those communities." Useful in both seminary classrooms and in congregational settings, the book is a contribution to the still-emerging field of queer theology, translating the rigors of scholarly research into transforming propos

Queer & Christian is a joyful celebration of queer faith and an unyielding reclamation of the Bible. Dive into pages that offer: -Compelling, evidence-based counterarguments to the “clobber verses” often used to condemn queerness -Celebrations of queer saints within the Bible—more numerous than you might believe! -Responses to commonly asked questions by queer folks and allies who’re feeling lost within the Christian faith

LGBTQ Christians read, love, scrutinize, become absorbed with, and find deep spiritual meaning in the Bible. As these testimonies show, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer Christians are inaugurating a fresh, exciting, new era in biblical interpretation. It is they whose rare insights into particular Bible stories and characters, told with poignancy and clarity, reveal a gay-friendly Bible and a gay-friendly God who cherishes and needs them just as they are.

This book seeks to find a better way to do theology-not about, but with and of LGBTQI people-taking insights from the sciences and personal narratives as it seeks to answer the question: 'What does human flourishing look like?'

What might happen if what we know about queer lives, loves and relationships was taken as read, rather than treated as a matter of debate? From this starting point, how might we do and think things differently in Christian life, our theology, and in the Church as an institution? Following the apologetics approach of Queer Holiness, Queer Redemption looks to a future when the margins truly define the centre, where queerness is truly liberative for the whole church.

In The Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage, Achtemeier shares what led to his change of heart: the problems with excluding groups of people and the insights into the Bible's message that led him to recognize the fullness of God's love and support for LGBT persons. Readers will discover how reading snippets of Scripture out of context has led to false and misleading interpretations of the Bible's message for gay people.

Over a quarter-century of ministry, I've learned and taught that orthodoxy, biblical, and Christian faith not only support but demand the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in the Church. A seminar, also called "For the Bible Tells Me So," evolved into this booklet, a succinct rendering of a complex theological mystery: God's consistent and surprising embrace of those whom Very Religious People have cast out.

Told in funny, poignant, and short vignettes, Galileo's story is not one of how to be cool for Christ. Like its founder, Galileo is deeply uncool and deeply devout, and always straining ahead to see what God will do next. Hays says curiosity is her greatest virtue, and she recounts how her curiosity led her to share the good news with people who are half her age and intensely sceptical —especially young adults, LGBTQ+ people, and all the people who love them.

If the world is to "know that we are Christians by our love," the church needs to discover better ways to live out the deep unity we share in Christ as we engage with politics and our world. Tim Otto tells the story of his struggle with being gay and what that taught him about the gospel. With an authentic and compelling personal voice, Tim invites us to explore how God is at work in the world, even amidst the most difficult circumstances, redeeming and transforming the church through this difficult debate.

Much has been said and written about trans people by theologians and Church leaders, while little has been heard from trans Christians themselves. As a step towards redressing the balance, This Is My Body offers a grounded reflection on people’s experience of gender dissonance that involves negotiating the boundaries between one’s identity and religious faith, as well as a review of the most up-to-date theological, cultural and scientific literature.

UNFAIR offers heart-wrenching and inspiring personal letters from gay people telling what it's like to grow up, and live, both gay and Christian. The book's opening essay, "Taking God at His Word: The Bible and Homosexuality," is a must-read for anyone seeking clarity on the relationship between the Bible, Christianity, and LGBT people. If you read only one book on this subject, make it this one.

This edited collection brings together the experiences of those who have been subjected to queer conversion therapy - it is an effort to expose conversion practices for what they are - pseudoscientific, bogus, ineffective, and wildly traumatic - and to recognise and listen to survivors. With contributions from Gregory Elsasser-Chavez, Chaim Levin, Lexie Bean, Syre Klenke, and many more from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum - this is an attempt to ensure that what happened within these pages cannot - and will not - happen to future generations.