It is not really that surprising to read an article in the New York Times about tensions on Christian college campuses in relating and responding to their lgbt students. The article highlights a few American schools, most of whom I’m unfamiliar with. But given my relationship with a number of colleges, I well know the…
I recently had an article published in the Christian Educator’s Journal. This is a publication that reaches over 4,000 teachers and administrators who serve primarily in Christian schools. I thought I would share the article here too: It was a story I’d heard before, but hearing it in the Christian school I’d graduated from, brought…
Last weekend I attended the Gay Christian conference in Denver. I’ve been pondering how to write about this experience and giving myself a little space to process before doing so. This is the third time I have gathered with this community. The first time, in 2007, I went incognito (with full disclosure to their leadership)…
As I continue to interact with people around the idea of nurturing generous spaciousness in the conversations at the intersection of faith and sexuality, it is clear that there is an appropriate time to enter such space – and times it may be unhelpful. Generous spaciousness is a conversational posture that can be helpful, and…
I’ve just finished my time in Vancouver where I facilitated three events and had a number of meetings with various leaders. Vancouver has the highest population of glbtqi people in Canada several of the locals informed me. One would think, therefore, that a conversation that takes into account the reality of diversity and seriously considers…
My friend NakedPastor posted a cartoon this week that has stimulated some good conversation. It was kind of fun for me because I’d commissioned NP to do a cartoon for the cover of a new DVD resource we’ll be releasing soon – and the cartoon he posted was one of the possible submissions (but we…
There is no question that my sense of mission and focus has been evolving over the last number of years. This hasn’t been an easy journey for many different reasons. People on all sides of the questions around integrating faith and sexuality have, at times, misunderstood my intentions or misjudged my motives. Sometimes that has…
I’d been pondering a post on this topic for a while. Partly, it was percolating. Partly, I was probably procrastinating. I’d been thinking about this statement, “Did God really say?” I’m sure, if you have been in the Christian church for any length of time, you’ve heard this. It’s context comes out of the creation…
On my way back from the GCN conference in Nashville last month, I read a little book containing the words and inspiration of Desmond Tutu. In the introduction that he penned, Tutu speaks of a concept called ubuntu. He describes this term as a central aspect of African philosophy – the essence of what it…
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…