Gays Are Us: Why LGBT Equality Is Not a “White” Issue

By Rev. Dr. Dennis W. Wiley | August 17, 2011

At last month’s 102nd annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a historic workshop focused on overcoming homophobia within the black community. As an African American, heterosexual, male pastor of a traditionally black Baptist church in the inner city of Washington, D.C., I was glad to see this legendary organization take this small but important step in its increasingly inclusive perspective on civil rights.

Read the entire article. . .

Believe Out Loud: A Million Christians for LGBT Equality

Determined to give voice to the millions of Christians who believe in equal rights for all, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) community, Believe Out Loud is launching a campaign to get one million Christians to break the silence and join the burgeoning chorus for full LGBT equality in the church.

Progressive Christians across numerous denominations believe that Jesus' message of justice, compassion and love compels them to be fully welcoming of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Now is the time to speak up and remind the world that it is possible to be Christian AND believe in LGBT inclusion. This Mother's Day, Believe Out Loud is inviting mothers and children everywhere to break the silence.

www.believeoutloud.com

America's churches can change the world

By Alejandro Gonzalez, USA TODAY

Black History Month set me to thinking about America's churches. Some led the struggle for civil rights. Others lined up on the wrong side. In the 1970s, a phrase was coined by historian John Lee Eighmy to explain why so many white Southern churches got it wrong: Churches in Cultural Captivity. Turns out my fellow Southern Baptists — my own family included — were Southern first and Baptist second.

But has the problem of religious organizations being co-opted or compromised by the broader secular culture gone away? And is it limited by geography or political boundaries?

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In Civil War, the Bible became a weapon

By Suzy Parker, USA TODAY (02/28/2011)

The Bible is too often invoked in today's political battles, just as it was employed during the Civil War, which erupted 150 years ago.

While previous anniversaries of this conflict rekindled old Yankee-Rebel debates about who had better soldiers and greater generals, times have changed and this anniversary is likely to be different. It offers a chance to re-examine crucial events and beliefs from new angles. As a minister, I am fascinated to reflect on how the Bible was used — and misused — to fuel the Civil War.

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LGBT Bible Study at Foundry United Methodist Church

If you or others at your congregation are considering the start of an LGBT focused Bible (or Torah or text, etc) study, check out this new video clip from Foundry UMC, a reconciling Methodist church based in Washington DC.

GLBT Bible Study in Washington, D.C. from Bree Tracey on Vimeo.

Out In Scripture - 2/14/2011

Dear God,

Make us unexpected agents of change for the world around us.

Remind us that faith is not remaining content with the way things are, but catching your vision of the way things can be.

Give us courage in the present.

Empower us to speak when the odds appear against us.

Amen.

Out In Scripture - 3/16/2011

Call us out, O God, from familiar settings.

Lead us into unexplored regions,

and make our lives a blessing to all whom we meet.

Give us courage to explore you and to explore ourselves openly.

Amen