Coming Out as Sacrament


Book Description

Gay Christian author and activist Chris Glaser proposes that coming out--as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered--has biblical precedence and sacramental dimensions.




Coming Out to God


Book Description

"In this collection of sixty prayers . . . Chris Glaser opens new vistas to us in prayer, discipleship, and the relationship between spirituality and sexuality. . . . This book is a classic in devotional literature which one will return to again and again".--Merrill M. Follansbee, co-founder of the Sacramento chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.




Coming Out Spiritually


Book Description

In these times of dramatic social change, when the highly charged issue of homosexuality is undeniably causing controversy in many arenas--religion, marriage, politics, education, the military--Christian de la Huerta, founder and director of Q-Spirit, offers a fresh outlook on gay spirituality and how to assert it.A spiritual awakening is occurring in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, as in much of the world. In this encompassing guidebook, de la Huerta looks at Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, New Thought, New Age, and Earth-based religions, including Native American. Cogently investigating these traditions' attitudes, teachings, and policies toward homosexuality, the author gives the queer reader a foundation from which to begin building a spiritual connection. Coming Out Spiritually also synthesizes ten spiritual roles or archetypes people we now call gay or queer have often assumed and continue to enact today: creators of beauty, consciousness scouts, mediators, shamans, and healers, among others. Drawing on these models while acting as a guide to the queer community, the author shows how to look deeper inside; to reach higher than ever before; to step forth more fully into a rightful self. An impassioned call to action, Coming Out Spiritually alternatively touches, challenges, encourages, and supports the queer community to fully reclaim its spiritual heritage.




Sacrament


Book Description

A famous photographer lying in a coma holds the key to the salvation of the world. But first he must travel back into the traumatic events of his childhood.




Uncommon Calling


Book Description

Chris Glaser describes his personal journey of coming out to his family, friends, church - and to himself. He tells the story of how the church reacted to his disclosure and his subsequent "uncommon" calling that led him to devote his professional life to reconciliation between the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community and the church. By openly and honestly telling his story, Glaser furthers his calling - demonstrating that lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals are not abstractions, but real people struggling to remain faithful. Gay Christians will recognize elements of their own stories in Glaser's narrative. And the whole church may discover its own uncommon calling to fully welcome all Christians into the family of faith.




Sacrament of Bodies


Book Description

In this groundbreaking collection of poems, Sacrament of Bodies, Romeo Oriogun fearlessly interrogates how a queer man in Nigeria can heal in a society where everything is designed to prevent such restoration. With honesty, precision, tenderness of detail, and a light touch, Oriogun explores grief and how the body finds survival through migration.




As My Own Soul


Book Description

With the removal of sexual orientation as a bar to ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), pending approval of a majority of presbyteries, and the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention calling for the development of theological and liturgical resources for same-sex blessings, sexual orientation—especially with regard to marriage—is a central issue. Secularly, too, the topic is front-page news with the recent California same-gender marriage ruling and subsequent Proposition 8 vote and the update of the Massachusetts same-gender marriage law. This book sets forth the case for religious institutions’ blessing of same-gender marriage, positing that same-gender marriage does not detract from the sacredness of heterosexual marriage, but rather enhances and nourishes the institution. Chapters include: • Claiming the Blessing • Deeper Than Scripture • Traditional Family Values • The Sacred Source of Marriage • Sex and the Body of Christ • Marriage As a Spiritual Discipline “Marriage is a spiritual discipline in which we come to know ourselves as beloved, trustworthy, redeemed, forgiven, and blessed, and at the same time learn how to love, be faithful, redeem, forgive, and bless the partner as well as the community.” —Chris Glaser




Coming Out Within


Book Description

Loss--feeling unacceptable to family, church, or workplace; losing loved ones to AIDS; being despised by segments of society--is universal among lesbians and gay men. Using an eight-phase model illustrated with real case histories, the authors explore loss as a catalyst for growth and personal and spiritual transformation.




Radical Love


Book Description

The first introductory textbook on the subject of queer theology. Contextual theologies have developed from a number of perspectives – including feminist theology, black theology, womanist theology, Latin American liberation theology, and Asian American theology – and a wide variety of academic and general introductions exist to examine each one. However, 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.




Gifted by Otherness


Book Description

As "outsiders," gay men and lesbians challenge the church to be inclusive of all God's children--the central message of the gospel. "God has drawn us to this difficult place," they write, "in order to reveal God's grace to us and in us and through us." Basing their book on retreats they have presented to churches and seminaries, Countryman and Ritley explore what it means to affirm, not merely accept, being gay or lesbian, as well as Christian. Writing primarily for the lesbigay community, and for their families and communities, they explore the ways in which the gay and lesbian community can appropriate and re-tell the biblical story, and find confidence in their unique spiritual journey and gifts. This proactive and self-affirming book provides new hope for those who feel that it is impossible to be both gay or lesbian, as well as Christian.