There is so much more the church can do to celebrate sexual relationships. Sex should be talked about in the church. We won’t always get it exactly right, but I personally think it’s important to begin starting conversations somewhere.
What were those “statements of faith” in the light of tragedy? Social upheaval? Personal challenges? Difficult relationships? Crisis? Or even encounters with wonder and discovery?
Ministry cannot happen without financial support from the very people who are participating in that ministry. But how should we handle Christian organizations when the survival of the institution comes at the expense of the very people the organization is supposed to serve?
There are kids, teens, and adults at your church that are LGBTQ+. They’re wondering if there’s a place for them. And more will be coming. Or maybe they won’t. Not because they aren’t seeking Christ, community, and Biblical truth, but because they’re tired of being rejected. They're tired of looking for the exit.
Sketch drawn from a photograph in the Associated Press. A woman in the crowd lowers her mask to wail when she hears the grand jury decision regarding the death of Breonna Taylor.
The dead become a statistic that we debate regarding who has the right idea about what they did and did not deserve, and in so doing we convince ourselves that we have been granted the rights as gatekeepers who hold the key to determining whether or not someone was worthy enough to finish living out their story.
LBGTQ youth from religious backgrounds are three times more likely to attempt suicide than their unchurched LGBTQ peers. This ought to be a wake up call for the church. This ought to be a siren.
I wish though I could go back to that young girl, sitting in that big arena with all its grandeur. I wish I could invite her to a quiet, less intense space, and tell her she may leave the church, but it will never mean she left the faith.