I Moved Back to Austin
My time in Chicago at UVC was so great I wanted to stay and recreate the magic somewhere else, but it wasn’t magic I was searching for but the feeling of walking in my calling.
I Kissed Dating (Whites) Goodbye
I came to my favorite determiner of whether or not I would date someone. The question asks, “Would you strongly prefer to go out with someone of your own skin color/racial background?” I answered no…
A Brief Reflection on Tone Policing
It was a warm Texas Summer day and I showed up early for a meeting that I had. In the midst of talking I was given a look. I remember the look that was given by the person I was speaking with, because I had seen it before from the same person and from hundreds…
My Response to the Letter from 500+ LGBTIQ Clergy
My Dear Siblings and Fellow Ministers in Christ, Your love and prayers are most needed. When I signed the letter with 110 other LGBTIQ clergy and candidates I was afraid, I was risking my job and my future; I didn’t know how many others were going to sign but I knew that I needed to…
I Will Never Ask For Anyone’s Opinion about Beyoncé
Three years ago on Tumblr someone started a “Beyoncé Knowles Appreciation Month” so as a certified member of the BeyHive I joined. Each day we were told to share a picture or write something to celebrate a woman I’ve often referred to as my patron saint. It wasn’t until the last day that we were…
Batman vs Superman and the 2016 Election
Clearly Lex Luthor can’t be anyone in the real world, because unlike Luther no one is pure evil. Real humans are nuanced and complicated and ultimately most human beings think that they are doing the right thing, even when they aren’t.
Sexuality & Vulnerability
(This post is a part of the Queer Theology Synchroblog, this year’s theme is sex and bodies…which was awkward to write about) I can remember coming out to my best friends from my private Christian college. I can remember where we were and what we were doing. I can remember the looks on their faces…
Thoughts On Fear
The statuses and tweets and blog posts calling for the rejection of Syrian refugees, may seem like simply racism and bigotry – and it is racism and bigotry, xenophobic even, but what gives birth to these reactions is fear.
Sunday Evening Thoughts
The promise of the Church isn’t that the waves will cease, but that we never have to face them alone, and that soon we’ll be done with the troubles of the world.
On My Struggle With Destructive Theology
Nuance is important in theology, because finite beings wrestling with the infinite will always fail and get things wrong; the author of this piece does not see nuance but a simple world of black and white. White is the beautiful purity and holiness that only heterosexuality can bring, and Black is the dirty filthy and disgusting lust-filled life of sin and debauchery that resides in the hearts of all “gay Christians. Such an approach to fellow humans ultimately reflects what the author believes about God”.
“Agreeing to Disagree” Since 1993
No such laws were made to force uniformity, and thus true Christian unity was able to blossom. Often, a criticism of Lesbian and Gay Methodists and their allies is that they are bending to culture; yet here the Methodists in Great Britain are leading culture by showing that it is okay to disagree, but it is not okay to discriminate.
Jarell 