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An affirming gay Christian (GLBT) site dedicated to ... "Building (ALL) the Body of Christ in Love!"
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Gay Affirming: Personal Story
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“This book is a journey for truth.”—Samuel Kader Sr., Pastor, Community Gospel Church, Dayton, Ohio, Openly Gay, Openly Christian, Leyland Publications.
Calling the Rainbow Nation Home profiles one woman’s spiritual journey to acceptance and affirmation and helps gay Christians around the world find strength and assurance in their own spiritual pilgrimages.
Am I going to hell because I am gay? Is homosexuality a sin? Should I remain celibate my entire life? Simple to understand, yet rooted in spiritual truth, Calling the Rainbow Nation Home has the potential to heal—to heal the battered soul of the Christians who are struggling to reconcile their homosexuality with their faith, and to heal their relationships with those who love them and want to understand.
A new era is just beginning in the gay Christian community, as thousands begin to realize that God loves us all just as we are. For a more in depth look at this book click here.
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This is the account of a deeply religious man's coming to terms with his gayness and the impact that process had on his life. A former ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and other religious-right personalities, White offers a compelling story in which he details his twenty-five years of being counseled, exorcised, electric-shocked, prayed for, and nearly driven to suicide because his church said homosexuality was wrong. His salvation--to be openly gay and Christian--is much more than a unique coming-out story.
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Amazon reader review: Troy Perry, founder of M.C.C., is considered by many to be the father of the gay Christian movement. His story is an inspiration as well as an important historical read for those interested in the early years of the gay Christian movement.
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A controversial collection of 25 stories of faith, written by homosexuals who refused to underestimate the love of God. Those who have been wounded by the institutional churches will identify with and find gentle guidance from the writers, who have found peace, despite the prevailing exclusion and oppression. A challenge to the religious right. A beacon of light and encouragement to the gay community.
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Amazon reader review: Chris Glaser's book poignantly and beautifully describes his struggle to find a place in the church as a gay man. Reading Chris' reflections on his own and the church's struggle with his sexuality and with the place of homosexuality within the church was an healing experience for me. And his theology is good too! A must for any gay Christian.
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Born in rural East Texas in the 1950’s, Tom grew up in suburban Dallas. Every Sunday he attended a church that would be called “fundamentalist” today, and he loved going to church. At an early age, he developed a love for the music of those Sunday services, which would now be called Southern Gospel, and eventually became an accomplished pianist.
He served faithfully, progressing to increasingly more responsible positions in the music ministry of the church. He studied the Bible. He even went to services that most people skipped. He did everything right, except for one thing he could not control: he grew up to be gay.
Tom knew that he and God still had a loving, positive relationship, yet people who were supposed to know what they were talking about convinced him that there was no place in God’s church for homosexuals. He walked away from the church.
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In this thoughtful and timely book, Bishop Alexander explores his journey through the theological, scriptural, and pastoral aspects of the questions surrounding homosexuality and Christian faith. Writing in the weeks after the General Convention of the Episcopal Church confirmed the election of the church's first openly gay bishop, Bishop Alexander offers a personal view of his changing outlook-from exclusion to acceptance--on this important issue. He also offers thought-provoking perspectives on scripture and tradition.
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It is one thing for a television personality to openly proclaim her homosexuality; it is another for a priest to do the same. As homosexuals are increasingly gaining acceptance by secular society, organized religions face the options: accept, ignore, or condemn. When Barry Stopfel forced the Episcopal Church to decide, "ignore" was no longer an option. Under the polished writing of Will Leckie, Stopfel cuts a compelling figure, and as a catalyst in the Episcopal struggle, we see the dual story of a man's love for his Christian church and his church's difficulty with Christ-like reciprocation.
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Very painful and personal, this is the story of a mother's struggle to reconcile the tension between her deeply held religious beliefs and the suicide of her gay son. Mary Griffith came from a religious family and raised her four children to believe in God and live a Christian life. Their conservative Presbyterian church was the center of family life for every family member except Mary's husband, Bob. When 17-year-old Bobby confided to older bother Ed that he was gay, the family's life changed. Mary convinced Bobby to pray that God would cure him and to seek solace in church activities. Bobby did it all, but the church's hatred of homosexuality and the obvious pain his gayness was causing his family led him increasingly to loathe himself. Excerpts from a diary he kept, family photos, and letters written by Mary to her dead son make the book intense reading for both high-school and public library patrons.
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The essential teaching of a Christian church is to embrace differences among people and invite them on a loving journey toward wholeness. Ferry, an ordained Anglican priest, lost that sense of wholeness after effectively serving the church for 11 years and being unable to be honest about who he was as a whole loving person. Ferry has written a deeply moving history of his struggle as a Christian and a gay person. Through an intense courtroom drama, the reader is given a taste of the arbitrary methods within the church over the issue of sexuality and the denial of human dignity. The issue of "be gay but don't tell" leads to hostile barriers; the book ends hoping that these barriers will be broken.
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Well-known Anglican priest and social critic Boyd continues his prolific literary output with this volume, which is at once autobiography and meditation. Boyd here tells us more than he has previously about his early career in Hollywood, his decision to enter the ministry, and his experiences as seminarian and as priest. As in several recent works, Boyd focuses on his experience as a gay man in the service of the church. This tendency to focus on his own experience contrasts sharply with the thrust of the earlier works that established his reputation, and his writings have become progressively less compelling. This is particularly true of the present book, which leaves the reader awaiting some of Boyd's earlier vibrancy.
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Amazon reader review: John McNeill, a gay-and-proud Christian scholar, made history with his landmark 1976 book "The Church and the Homosexual." "Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair" is McNeill's autobiography, and this latter book reaffirms his stature as one of the lesbian and gay community's great spiritual voices. The book begins with McNeill's boyhood in an Irish Catholic family in Buffalo, New York. He vividly describes his experiences as a soldier in Europe during World War II. Particularly harrowing are his memories of slave labor in a German prisoner-of-war camp. We also learn of his academic study of the work of French philosopher Maurice Blondel, his ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood, and his awakening to the world of gay love and sex. Particularly important are the chapters describing the aftermath of the publication of "The Church and the Homosexual." McNeill was eventually expelled from the Jesuit order. He also writes of his relationships with a number of gay Christian groups and leaders, and pays warm tribute to his lover, Charles Chiarelli.
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Amazon reader review: I read this book in 24 hours. It's like Stuart was writing about my upbringing. I too would love to share with my parents that I am gay, but our fundamentalist background prevents that. I know that my coming out would result in a situation similar to Stuart's, yet I hate to lie to them. And as Shakespeare would say, "There's the rub." The Bible says that liars shall have their share of the lake of fire. At least Stuart isn't a liar. He told his family the truth about his life. To his sister and sister-in-law who I have noticed have written responses to this work here at Amazon.com, do you love Stuart? Do you truly love him? It sure seems like you are still bent on judging him rather than showing Christ's unconditional love to him. I love my family and know that someday I will have to tell them the truth. I don't want to be a liar any longer to them. I just pray daily that their reaction will not be the same as the Miller family's reaction, but deep down...I know it will be, and that frightens me to death.
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In this European
anthology you will find articles, biographical stories, poems, prayers,
paintings, illustrations and photos involving 95 Christian lesbians from
26 European countries. The women live in Austria, Belarus, Belgium, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy,
Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Moldova,
Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. They represent experiences
from different Christian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant,
Lutheran, Reformed, Free Church, Jehovah’s Witness and Mormon church
settings. The main focus is on living as lesbian and Christian! There are
many books which tell the stories of lesbians or of Christians, but not
many where this combination is heard. The women tell about their
experiences with family, society, church, God, faith, doubt - and our own
search for identity and belonging. The stories express despair, happiness,
rage, gratitude, and unyielding optimism and trust. Trust in God - not
necessarily in the church(es); sometimes quite the opposite. Some have
left their churches and some are in the very centre of theirs, sitting in
the church pews, taking part in Holy Communion. Some even stand in the
pulpit and give the bread and wine. Each one of them has chosen her own
way of living with faith and sexuality. One decided that she felt closer
to Buddhism, while another chose a "different" and - to many Christian
socialized lesbians - unexpected road: conversion to Islam.
The presentation of each of the 26 European countries starts with a country report which gives background information about the situation for lesbians (and gays) within society and churches. As an introduction to the whole you will find an article with thoughts about a lesbian feminist theology, emphasizing the importance of telling and listening to biographical stories, and showing that theology is about the lives and faith of the people and their experiences with God. This is also illustrated in two sermons written and given in the Open Church Group for lesbians and gays in Norway. In this book each
woman speaks for herself. The stories are many and diverse and do not all
reflect the opinions of the editor, the other co-workers and/or the
European Forum. What is important is that this book is a place where the
women are allowed to express their thoughts and tell their stories. Thus,
the book is neither supposed to be a “neutral” academic study nor a
literary masterpiece, but an exciting collection of personal witnesses.
Note: I don't know if this publisher ships books outside of the EU.
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The author, David Shallenberger presents a wonderful look into the lives of a dozen gay men and lesbians who through individual journeys came to realize their faith and sexuality could be incorporated rather than exclusive of each other. The stories are very personal and written in a very easy style to read. Shallenberger offers brief comments in the midst of the stories that prepare the reader for what's to come and shows the similarities between everyone's experience. This is an excellent testimony of what God has done in the lives of His gay and lesbian children!
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An autobiographic faith journey of a lesbian couple as they deal with breast cancer and their God given sexual orientation. Darlene was a former leader in the ex-gay movement and her journey into truth will move you deeply. |
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