In a speaking engagement I raised two fairly recent public statements as a case study in contrasts. One was the statement issued by Liverpool pastors speaking out against homophobia in their community in the wake of the beating death of a gay teen and near-fatal assault on another gay man. The other was the Manhattan…
While I was enjoying a relaxing long weekend camping with friends in the Catskills an unidentified person walked into a LGBT support group in Tel Aviv Israel and opened fire with an M-16. Two people were killed and 15 others wounded. I didn’t get the news until this morning when I sat down to my…
I remember in my early days with New Direction how easy it was for me to feel threatened and defensive when I encountered people who appeared to have moved from a traditional understanding of Scripture’s boundaries for same-gender sexual behaviour towards a more inclusive and affirming stance. I remember feeling quite justified in my judgments…
I came home from yet another speaking engagement Sunday night feeling pretty good. The talk had gone well, and the youth staff had invited me out to a pub afterwards to talk more. I was very tired since I had taught Sunday School that day, and then spent the afternoon at a picnic with the…
I have come to deeply love the writings of Jean Vanier ….. and so when I spotted a copy of “Finding Peace” on a shelf at my friends, Mark and Karen, I asked to borrow it. Vanier shares a poem that he translated from French written by Athenagoras, the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople from 1948…
Someone has anonymously commented on my last post – and given that my response to them was getting longer and longer – I decided to just make it it’s own post. This commenter asked: “How do we get to the point of seeing this issue as an area of disagreement rather than a salvation issue?”…
Recently I was asked to speak to a gathering of youth. The group was made up of youth from a variety of churches and denominations, and after I shared my story a number of youth and pastors came to talk with me and express how grateful they were. One woman told about having a gay…
This past weekend a conference addressing homosexuality was held in Uganda. You can read more details and background here and here and here. There are some deeply troubling reports about this conference that I feel I need to speak out about. New Direction as a ministry has intentionally chosen to stay out of politics. However,…
As I was posting my last entry on ‘trust issues’, I came across a comment that had somehow gotten lost in the wasteland of unmoderated comments. “Jack” was very articulate in raising concerns that seem to be shared by other gay readers, so I wanted to try to address some of the issues he raises:…
Below is a letter I wrote in response to an old friend who is committed to living a celibate life. I’m posting an edited version of it because it seems to be a query that I am hearing more and more often… “I have had conversations with a number of ‘side B’ same-gender attracted people…