ALREADYENOUGH
ALREADYCHURCHED
LEADERS - YOU TOO ARE NOT ALONE - THIS IS A SAFE PLACE TO DRAW COURAGE AND WISDOM FROM THOSE WHO HAVE WALKED THE PATH BEFORE US - THANK GOD. IF YOU HAVE STARTED THE SHIFT AND BEGUN TO RESEARCH, HERE IS THE NEXT STEP - ENCOURAGEMENT.
Church can become the riskiest place to be spiritually honest. Yet history has shown us that such a course adjustment wouldn't be the first time or likely the last. In fact, we would simply be following the very template of Scripture itself. The story of God, and God's people, is never static, never simply about repeating the past and maintaining it at all costs.
The Bible must be thought through, pondered, tried out, assessed, and (if need be) argued with—all of which is an expression of faith, not evidence to the contrary.
Peter Enns: The Sin of Certainty
Choose one; read, digest, pray, repeat.
True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical Embrace
– Brandan Robertson
TOP PICK
Highly recommended.
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.
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
ed: Cody Sanders
TOP PICK
Highly recommended.
Highly Rated
Do you know a minister or church struggling to locate resources for dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity? Is your church seeking to enter faithful dialogue on the welcome and affirmation of LGBTQ people? Do you know an LGBTQ person trying to reconcile sexual orientation, gender identity, and faith?
Developed to assist clergy and laity in leading healthy and informed congregational dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity, Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth includes articles focused on Bible study and theological reflection, scientific and psychological studies, and personal stories from LGBTQ Christians and their families, as well as from congregations who have faithfully struggled with the questions of sexual orientation, gender identity and Christian faith.
A Bigger Table.
Expanded Edition with Study Guide: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community
– John Pavlovitz
Highly Recommended
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.
Our Witness: The Unheard Stories of LGBT+ Christians
– Brandan Robertson
Highly Recommended
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. In this volume, LGBT+ Christian activist and theologian Brandan Robertson has brought together stories of LGBT+ Christians worldwide. Combined with his theological insights to create a powerful book that will challenge, convict, and inspire readers from all theological backgrounds to examine their posture and message toward the LGBT+ community and embrace the Holy Spirit's revival among queer Christians worldwide.
For The Bible Tells Me So: the biblical-theological necessity of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church
– Katie Hays
Highly Recommended
Doing the Mahi
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. Part One is a rapid read of the (very small) set of scriptures that seemingly prohibit LGBTQ+ identity. Part Two presents a literary-theological alternative to fact-checking every individual verse. This edition also includes an open letter published on social media in 2017, "To the Dearly Beloved Queer Children of God," as an example of how biblical-theological study has provoked Galileo Church to act on behalf of LGBTQ+ Christians seeking inclusion in the Church.
Learning to Interpret Toward Love: Actually Embracing People of Different Sexuality (in the kinds of churches where they haven't been)
– Peter Fitch
Highly Recommended
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.
A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth
- Cody Sanders
Highly Recommended
Despite our best efforts to create welcoming and affirming congregations, the reality is that church can still be a harmful place to LGBTQIA youth.
Inside A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth, author Cody J. Sanders challenges pastors and church leaders to reflect on the various trials that adolescence brings for LGBTQIA youth. Designed for congregations that currently have a theologically and biblically affirming stance toward the LGBTQIA community, this unique resource provides insight and practical advice for tough questions like:
Why Churches Need to Talk about Sexuality: Lessons Learned from Hard Conversations about Sex, Gender, Identity, and the Bible
– Mark Wingfield
TOP PICK
Highly recommended.
Highly Rated
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:
Christianity, LGBTQ Suicide, and the Souls of Queer Folk
– Cody Sanders
TOP PICK
Highly recommended.
Highly Rated
The elevated occurrence of suicide attempts among LGBTQ persons has received little attention within the literature of theology and religious studies. This book fills that lacuna by addressing the role that religious, spiritual, and theological narratives play in shaping the souls of queer folk. Taking a narrative approach to qualitative interview material from LGBTQ individuals who survived their suicide attempts, Cody J. Sanders argues that theological narratives can operate violently upon the souls of LGBTQ people in ways that make life precarious and, at time, seem unlivable. The book critically addresses the violence of theological narratives upon queer souls, filling a crucial void in scholarship concerning the role of religion—specifically Christianity—in LGBTQ suicide. Ultimately, the author draws upon the interview material to move readers toward constructive methods of contributing to the resistance and resilience of queer souls in relation to soul violence, asking how we can intervene with practices of care in order to cultivate livability of life for queer people.
A Letter to My Congregation
– Ken Wilson
Highly recommended.
Honest and Insightful
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.
Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow
– Cody Sanders
Highly Recommended
Queer Lessons for Churches on the Straight and Narrow is about changing the questions we ask about sexuality, gender identity, and faith. Sanders helps us imagine new pathways into old conversations by shifting our attitude from one of suspicious scrutiny toward LGBTQ people to one of compassionate curiosity. Less concerned with answering questions, it aims to cultivate our imagination for asking new questions. Sanders asks, "What can all Christians learn from LGBTQ people that will enhance our lives and strengthen our communities of faith?" Lessons are offered on the themes of relationship, community, faithfulness, love, violence, and forgiveness.
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. Leaning on the work of René Girard, they conclude that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus together reveal a completely good, non-violent God who is on the side of the oppressed and scapegoated of this world. As a work of queer theology, the book is intersectional in its understanding of justice and invites readers to reconsider our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
Ancient Laws & Contemporary Controversies
- Cheryl B. Anderson
Cheryl B. Anderson is uniquely qualified to apply insights from contemporary law to the interpretive history of biblical law and draw out their implications for gender, class, and race/ethnicity issues. In so doing, she lays the groundwork for an inclusive model of biblical interpretation.
How To Talk About The Bible & LGBT Inclusion
- The Reformation Project
The Reformation Project is full of excellent resources and webinars that you can look through at your leisure.
"How to Talk About the Bible and LGBT Inclusion" is a 70-page booklet designed to give readers a concise but comprehensive overview of the biblical case for LGBT inclusion. Topics range from experience, tradition, celibacy, and gender complementarity to the six main Bible passages at dispute over same-sex relationships; this resource will help us better understand the relevant theological issues and make a compelling case for LGBT affirmation those in your life who disagree with you. The booklet also contains sections on ex-gay ministries, bisexual Christians, transgender Christians, and queer Christians of colour.
We'd love to hear from you if you have a book you'd like to recommend - reach out.
Got some time to listen rather than read? Here's some podcasts and videos with perspectives that may not have yet been considered.
The Bible for Normal People, Peter Enns and Jared Byas, talk about Disproving the Prooftext... because it's not just clobber verses about sexuality that are misunderstood or misused...
And then there's this...
A safe, supportive community for those in ministry.
Serving in ministry can be incredibly life-giving, but it can also be lonely and gut-wrenchingly difficult. We're here to help. In partnership with the good folks at The Bible For Normal People, we're a collection of leaders who strive to create safe places where those involved in church work can be honest about their own questions and struggles. We equip others to explore and teach the complexities of the Bible in healthy ways that don't perpetuate harm.
Jonathon Bow's blog is worth 20 mins of our time.
How to Move Your Church from “Non-Affirming” to “Affirming” of the LGBTQIA+ Community
120 seconds of pondering (with coffee).
Ok, youth leaders/pastors, we know you're looking for some practical stuff, and we hope this helps get you off the ground. Don't forget to check out the other pages on
AlreadyEnough for a variety of resources.
QYF: Personal Narratives by Queer Youth of Faith
– Beloved Arise
Engaging with people's lived realities is vital if we desire to understand and love everyone. Hear the powerful voices of queer youth of faith in this collection of personal narratives — finalists from the Beloved Arise 2020 National Essay Contest. QYF introduces us to 14 young queer voices who share their stories of heartbreak and hope, courage and compassion, and discovering life in the overlapping spaces between faith and queerness. Beloved Arise is filled with stunning and insightful resources.
Beloved Arise For Youth Pastors - https://www.belovedarise.org/youthpastors
Journey Together - https://www.belovedarise.org/downloads/journey-together-1
Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: A Guide for LGBTQ+ Christian Teens (Queerfully and Wonderfully Made Guides, 1)
Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: A Guide for LGBTQ+ Christian Teens has answers to all these questions and more. You'll get insight and support from an amazing group of LGBTQ+ professionals, as well as testimonies from young adult queer Christians who've recently been exactly where you are. You'll walk away with a lot of answers, prepared with tools to help. But most importantly, you'll hear the good news: God loves you exactly as you are. No matter your identity or where in your journey of self-discovery you find yourself, you got this.
Made, Known, Loved: Developing LGBTQ-Inclusive Youth Ministry
– Ross Murray
The book first helps congregation leaders and parents examine the values of the congregation and youth group. It focuses on keeping young people, including LGBTQ youth, safe and helping them feel respected and see themselves as beloved children of God. Made, Known, Loved shows congregations how to create a program that affirms LGBTQ youth's faith and identity, accepts and welcomes diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, and equips future leaders for the Church and the LGBTQ community. Also, check out The Naming Project https://www.thenamingproject.org/about/
Welcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting and Working with LGBTQ+ Christian Youth (Queerfully and Wonderfully Made Guides, 2)
How should I respond when a teen comes out? Do I have to tell their parents? What does it mean to be transgender? And how do I talk to a trans youth? These are the kinds of tough questions facing Christian communities everywhere. It's not enough for faith leaders to improvise their way through these questions. Leaders need concrete tools to navigate the LGBTQ+ landscape.
Welcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting and Working with LGBTQ+ Christian Youth is one of those tools. A handbook for pastors, youth workers, church leaders, educators, and other adults in Christian settings provides answers to the most pressing questions about sexuality, gender, mental health, safe sex, and more.
Or - Why not try something a little more creative?
Unbound Hearts by David R. Weiss.
Ten individual biblical stories presented through Reader's Theater.
Download free PDF here.
Would you like to connect with other churches already doing the inclusive mahi?
CHURCH NZ
New Zealand's Rainbow Christian Network
Diverse Church is a home for Rainbow people of faith.
We want to connect LGBTQI+ Christians all across New Zealand to encourage one another on our journey of faith.
Find an Affirming Church here and messages from the Awaken Conference here and more resources here
How to Become a Welcoming Church Resources
Drawing upon twenty five years of experience within a variety of Christian denominations, this Toolkit is a step-by-step guide to help facilitate a Welcoming Process in your local congregation. Biblically and theologically based, it uses tools of relational organising, congregational assessment, conflict management and change theory.
Download this amazing resource in a free PDF here
A Blessing for you
Put your feet on the ground,
breathe deeply -in -out -repeat...
This is a blessing for all
who find themselves
on the path
to fuller understanding and embrace
of human wholeness
and God’s wilful love.
The path
you were warned off
wary of
cold-sweat-concerned about.
But couldn’t ignore or avoid.
The unmarked track begun in lonely trepidation.
Oh, may it open-up as you go!
Oh, may it widen and brighten!
May it carry you to a lush living place
of flowering flax and birdsong,
and breath-taking beach
stretching on and on:
an ecosystem of hopefulness.
May you find friends and angels on the way.
And whether you are tentatively beginning
tenaciously scrambling
or stretching into the sunshine,
may you know, and know deeply
how necessary
the path is.
So, a blessing on you as you go on
with your heart soundly beating
in time
to the call
of God’s wild Spirit.
Jody Kilpatrick
