Download or read book Respectful LGBT Conversations written by Harold Heie and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2018-05-14 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In stark contrast to the shrill and nasty interactions among many Christians regarding contentious LGBT issues, this book models a redemptive mode of engagement by featuring respectful conversations among deeply committed Christians who hold to diverging traditional and non-traditional views. The foundational values guiding these conversations are the quest for truth, giving the gift of love to all brothers and sisters in Christ, and modeling Christian unity. Emerging from these conversations are practical steps for a way forward that include creating safe spaces for ongoing conversation and practicing courageous Christian leadership. Based on case studies for a Christian university and two Christian churches, this book provides helpful advice for navigating conflict within churches, Christian denominations, and Christian educational institutions.
Download or read book Respectful LGBT Conversations written by Harold Heie and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In stark contrast to the shrill and nasty interactions among many Christians regarding contentious LGBT issues, this book models a redemptive mode of engagement by featuring respectful conversations among deeply committed Christians who hold to diverging traditional and non-traditional views. The foundational values guiding these conversations are the quest for truth, giving the gift of love to all brothers and sisters in Christ, and modeling Christian unity. Emerging from these conversations are practical steps for a way forward that include creating safe spaces for ongoing conversation and practicing courageous Christian leadership. Based on case studies for a Christian university and two Christian churches, this book provides helpful advice for navigating conflict within churches, Christian denominations, and Christian educational institutions.
Download or read book Let s Talk written by Harold Heie and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-12-10 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The state of public discourse in America is dismal, reflecting an extreme us-versus-them tribalism where "me and my folks" have the full truth about the contentious issue at hand and "those other folks" are devoid of any truth and can even be demonized as evil. Rather than just cursing this darkness, Harold Heie presents what he considers to be a "better way" for those who disagree about contentious issues to respectfully engage one another, a way that is deeply informed by his Christian faith perspective; a way that reflects his understanding that to listen carefully to those who disagree with you and to then talk respectfully about your disagreements is a deep expression of the love for others to which Jesus calls all those who claim to be his followers. But this book is not just an abstract consideration of the nature of civil public discourse. Rather, drawing on his successes and failures, the beautiful and the ugly, in his attempts to orchestrate respectful conversations on contentious issues, both online and in small-group face-to-face meetings during the past decade, Heie presents practical, concrete proposals for how to talk to one another about significant disagreements, particularly in Christian churches that have tragically succumbed to tribalism.
Download or read book Building a Bridge written by James Martin and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-03-13 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A treasure...a wise and entertaining book that should appeal to the spiritual pilgrim in all of us, no matter what the faith and no matter whether believer or nonbeliever.” – Chicago Tribune The New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and Jesus: A Pilgrimage turns his attention to the relationship between LGBT Catholics and the Church in this loving, inclusive, and revolutionary book. A powerful call for tolerance, acceptance, and support—and a reminder of Jesus' message for us to love one another. In this moving and inspiring book, Martin offers a powerful, loving, and much-needed voice in a time marked by anger, prejudice, and divisiveness. On the day after the Orlando nightclub shooting, James Martin S.J. posted a video on Facebook in which he called for solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters. "The largest mass shooting in US history took place at a gay club and the LGBT community has been profoundly affected," he began. He then implored his fellow Catholics—and people everywhere—to "stand not only with the people of Orlando but also with their LGBT brothers and sisters." Father Martin's post went viral and was viewed more than 1.6 million times. Adapted from an address he gave to New Ways Ministry, a group that ministers to and advocates for LGBT Catholics, Building a Bridge provides a roadmap for repairing and strengthening the bonds that unite all of us as God's children. Martin uses the image of a two-way bridge to enable LGBT Catholics and the Church to come together in a call to end the "us" versus "them" mentality. Turning to the Catechism, he draws on the three criteria at the heart of the Christian ministry—"respect, compassion, and sensitivity"—as a model for how the Catholic Church should relate to the LGBT community. WINNER OF THE LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD IN SOCIAL ACTIVISM/CHARITY.
Download or read book Let s Talk written by Harold Heie and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2021-12-10 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The state of public discourse in America is dismal, reflecting an extreme us-versus-them tribalism where “me and my folks” have the full truth about the contentious issue at hand and “those other folks” are devoid of any truth and can even be demonized as evil. Rather than just cursing this darkness, Harold Heie presents what he considers to be a “better way” for those who disagree about contentious issues to respectfully engage one another, a way that is deeply informed by his Christian faith perspective; a way that reflects his understanding that to listen carefully to those who disagree with you and to then talk respectfully about your disagreements is a deep expression of the love for others to which Jesus calls all those who claim to be his followers. But this book is not just an abstract consideration of the nature of civil public discourse. Rather, drawing on his successes and failures, the beautiful and the ugly, in his attempts to orchestrate respectful conversations on contentious issues, both online and in small-group face-to-face meetings during the past decade, Heie presents practical, concrete proposals for how to talk to one another about significant disagreements, particularly in Christian churches that have tragically succumbed to tribalism.
Download or read book The Book of More Delights written by Ross Gay and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2023-09-19 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet, a book of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us. In Ross Gay’s new collection of small, daily wonders, again written over the course of a year, one of America’s most original voices continues his ongoing investigation of delight. For Gay, what delights us is what connects us, what gives us meaning, from the joy of hearing a nostalgic song blasting from a passing car to the pleasure of refusing the “nefarious” scannable QR code menus, from the tiny dog he fell hard for to his mother baking a dozen kinds of cookies for her grandchildren. As always, Gay revels in the natural world—sweet potatoes being harvested, a hummingbird carousing in the beebalm, a sunflower growing out of a wall around the cemetery, the shared bounty from a neighbor’s fig tree—and the trillion mysterious ways this glorious earth delights us. The Book of (More) Delights is a volume to savor and share.
Download or read book Washed and Waiting written by Wesley Hill and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2010-09-21 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book written primarily for gay Christians and those who love them. Part memoir, part pastoral-theological reflection, this book wrestles with three main areas of struggle that many gay Christians face: (1) What is God’s will for sexuality? (2) If the historic Christian tradition is right and same-sex behavior is ruled out, how should gay Christians deal with their resulting loneliness? (3) How can gay Christians come to an experience of grace that rescues them from crippling feelings of shame and guilt? Author Wesley Hill is not advocating that it is possible for every gay Christian to become straight, nor is he saying that God affirms homosexuality. Instead, Hill comes alongside gay Christians and says, “You are not alone. Here is my experience; it’s like yours. And God is with us. We can share in God’s grace.” While some authors profess a deep faith in Christ and claim a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit precisely in and through their homosexual practice, Hill’s own story, by contrast, is a story of feeling spiritually hindered, rather than helped, by his homosexuality. His story testifies that homosexuality was not God’s original creative intention for humanity—that it is, on the contrary, a tragic sign of human nature and relationships being fractured by sin—and therefore that homosexual practice goes against God’s express will for all human beings, especially those who trust in Christ. This book is written mainly for those homosexual Christians who are trying to walk the narrow path of celibacy and are convinced that their discipleship to Jesus necessarily commits them to the demanding, costly obedience of choosing not to nurture their homosexual desires. With reflections from the lives of Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins, Wesley Hill encourages and challenges Christians with homosexual desires to live faithful to God’s plan for human sexuality.
Download or read book Messy Grace written by Caleb Kaltenbach and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes, grace gets messy. Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family. But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christian…and a pastor. Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace. Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate to. Jesus was able to love these people and yet still hold on to his beliefs. So can you. Even when it’s messy. “Messy Grace is an important contribution to the conversation about sexual identity for churches and leaders. Caleb's story is surprising and unique, and he weaves it together compellingly. He states his views clearly, leaves room for disagreement, and champions love no matter where you are in this conversation.” —Jud Wilhite, Sr. Pastor, Central Christian Church
Download or read book Critical Conversations written by Tom Gilson and published by Kregel Publications. This book was released on 2016 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christian parents need to be prepared to answer the myriad challenges teens might hear in today’s increasingly pro homosexual culture. “Why shouldn’t gays get married?” “Who says gay sex is wrong?” “Does the Bible actually say there’s anything wrong with homosexuality?” “Don’t you care that kids are being bullied just for being themselves?” To start the discussion, Gilson provides a brief history of the issues beginning with the sexual revolution of the 1960s. He explains how and why cultural attitudes have reversed on this subject in such a short timespan, leaving Christians scrambling for answers. This is perhaps the most complicated and contentious issue Christians face in today’s culture. Most churches are poorly equipped to handle it; parents are even less prepared. The good news is that parents need not have pat answers ready before they dive into conversations with their teens and preteens on this difficult topic. Learning together—parents struggling through these issues alongside their kids and leading them to biblical answers— has relational benefits. Answers are important, though, so manageable, nontechnical answers to common questions surrounding this issue are provided, as well as a guide to further resources.
Download or read book Gay and Catholic written by Eve Tushnet and published by Ave Maria Press. This book was released on 2014-10-20 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of a 2015 Catholic Press Award: Gender Issues Category (First Place). In this first book from an openly lesbian and celibate Catholic, widely published writer and blogger Eve Tushnet recounts her spiritual and intellectual journey from liberal atheism to faithful Catholicism and shows how gay Catholics can love and be loved while adhering to Church teaching. Eve Tushnet was among the unlikeliest of converts. The only child of two atheist academics, Tushnet was a typical Yale undergraduate until the day she went out to poke fun at a gathering of philosophical debaters, who happened also to be Catholic. Instead of enjoying mocking what she termed the “zoo animals,” she found herself engaged in intellectual conversation with them and, in a move that surprised even her, she soon converted to Catholicism. Already self-identifying as a lesbian, Tushnet searched for a third way in the seeming two-option system available to gay Catholics: reject Church teaching on homosexuality or reject the truth of your sexuality. Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith is the fruit of Tushnet’s searching: what she learned in studying Christian history and theology and her articulation of how gay Catholics can pour their love and need for connection into friendships, community, service, and artistic creation.
Download or read book Church in Crisis written by Oliver O'Donovan and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2008-07-03 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What if the challenge gay men and women present the church with is not emancipatory but hermeneutic? Suppose that at the heart of the problem there is the magna quaestio, the question about the gay experience, its sources and its character, that gays must answer for themselves: how this form of sensibility and feeling is shaped by its social context and how it can be clothed in an appropriate pattern of life for the service of God and discipleship of Christ? But suppose, too, that there is another question corresponding to it, which non-gay Christians need to answer: how and to what extent this form of sensibility and feeling has emerged in specific historical conditions, and how the conditions may require, as an aspect of the pastoral accommodation that changing historical conditions require, a form of public presence and acknowledgment not hitherto known? These two questions come together as a single question: how are we to understand together the particularity of the age in which we are given to attest God's works?
Download or read book God Believes in Love written by Gene Robinson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the IX Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church, the first openly gay person elected to the episcopate and the world’s leading religious spokesperson for gay rights and gay marriage—a groundbreaking book that persuasively makes the case for same-sex marriage using a commonsense, reasoned, religious argument. Robinson holds the religious text of the Bible to be holy and sacred and the ensuing two millennia of church history to be relevant to the discussion. He is equally familiar with the secular and political debate about gay marriage going on in America today, and is someone for whom same-sex marriage is a personal issue; Robinson was married to a woman for fourteen years and is a father of two children and has been married to a man for the last four years of a twenty-five-year relationship. Robinson has a knack for taking complex and controversial issues and addressing them in plain direct language, without using polemics or ideology, putting forth his argument for gay marriage, and bringing together sacred and secular points of view.
Download or read book Star Crossed written by Barbara Dee and published by Aladdin. This book was released on 2018-03-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twelve-year-old Mattie wrestles with her crush on Gemma as they participate in their school production of Romeo and Juliet in what School Library Journal calls “a fine choice for middle school libraries in need of an accessible LGBTQ stories.” Twelve-year-old Mattie is thrilled when she learns the eighth grade play will be Romeo and Juliet. In particular, she can’t wait to share the stage with Gemma Braithwaite, who has been cast as Juliet. Gemma is brilliant, pretty—and British!—and Mattie starts to see her as more than just a friend. But Mattie has also had an on/off crush on her classmate Elijah since, well, forever. Is it possible to have a crush on both boys AND girls? If that wasn’t enough to deal with, things offstage are beginning to resemble their own Shakespearean drama: the cast is fighting, and the boy playing Romeo may not be up to the challenge of the role. And due to a last-minute emergency, Mattie is asked to step up and take over the leading role—opposite Gemma’s Juliet—just as Mattie’s secret crush starts to become not-so-secret in her group of friends. In this funny, sweet, and clever look at the complicated nature of middle school romance, Mattie learns how to become a lead player in her own life.
Download or read book We Are Everywhere written by Matthew Riemer and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2019-05-07 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have pride in history. A rich and sweeping photographic history of the Queer Liberation Movement, from the creators and curators of the massively popular Instagram account LGBT History. “If you think the fight for justice and equality only began in the streets outside Stonewall, with brave patrons of a bar fighting back, you need to read We Are Everywhere right now.”—Anderson Cooper Through the lenses of protest, power, and pride, We Are Everywhere is an essential and empowering introduction to the history of the fight for queer liberation. Combining exhaustively researched narrative with meticulously curated photographs, the book traces queer activism from its roots in late-nineteenth-century Europe—long before the pivotal Stonewall Riots of 1969—to the gender warriors leading the charge today. Featuring more than 300 images from more than seventy photographers and twenty archives, this inclusive and intersectional book enables us to truly see queer history unlike anything before, with glimpses of activism in the decades preceding and following Stonewall, family life, marches, protests, celebrations, mourning, and Pride. By challenging many of the assumptions that dominate mainstream LGBTQ+ history, We Are Everywhere shows readers how they can—and must—honor the queer past in order to shape our liberated future.
Download or read book Don t Judge a Book by Its Cover written by A. Rothemund and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Living Library works exactly like a normal library - readers come and borrow a 'book' for a limited period of time. After reading it they return the Book to the library and ? if they want ? they can borrow another Book. There is only one difference: the Books in the Living Library are human beings, and the Books and readers enter into a personal dialogue. The Books in the Living Library are people representing groups frequently confronted with prejudices and stereotypes, and who are often victims of discrimination or social exclusion. The 'reader' of the library can be anybody who is ready to talk with his or her own prejudice and stereotype and wants to spend an hour of time on this experience. In the Living Library, Books cannot only speak, but they are able to reply to the readers' questions, and the Books can even ask questions and learn themselves.
Download or read book Reforming American Politics written by Harold Heie and published by Read the Spirit Books. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity and political conflict are paired so often in daily headlines that Harold Heie’s message is astonishing. A lifelong practitioner of respectful engagement with others, Heie lifts up core Christian values that can transform toxic confrontations into constructive conversations. He proposes a “Way Forward” beyond the us-versus-them tribalistic fighting mentality that currently plagues politics. As a Christian, Heie believes that “Jesus has called all his followers to love their neighbors. Providing someone who disagrees with you a safe and welcoming space to express that disagreement and then talking respectfully about your disagreement is a deep expression of love.” In Reforming American Politics, Heie aims to model respectful conversations among Christians who have strong disagreements about: ● How Christians and others should talk to one another about political issues ● The meaning of politics and the appropriate scope of political activity ● Public policy proposals that are hotly debated. He recommends a “Way Forward” for Christians, and others, to seek to reform American politics that presents a stark contrast to current ways of doing politics. In his research for this book, Heie worked with 23 diverse conversation partners for 10 months of online discussions. His electronic forum is an “eCircle” that attracted readers nationwide. Best-selling evangelical historian Mark Noll writes, “In an age of flaming rhetoric, fractious politics and fissiparous ideology, Harold Heie exemplifies a much better way. The discussions he moderates in this book treat red-hot issues like immigration, health care, economic inequality and money in politics, as well as more general considerations of Christian principles, Christian prudence and Christian practice. The marvel for readers will be to see believers airing their differences frankly, but doing so with Christian friendship preserved and Christian wisdom to the forefront. It is hard to imagine a better book for times like these.” Award-winning journalist and scholar of American religion Randall Balmer also urges readers to explore Heie’s thoughtful approach to encouraging dialogue by basing his appeal on timeless Christian principles. Balmer writes: “At a time when public discourse has devolved from disagreement to partisanship to tribalism, Harold Heie has determinedly promoted ‘respectful conversations.’ As evident in this, his latest summation, Heie does not settle for bromides or platitudes. He insists on thoughtful, theological, informed discussions, and he points us, all of us, toward a better way.” As Noll and Balmer point out, Heie addresses some of the toughest questions millions of American families face in trying to live out their Christian faith as well engaging in important public issues. Chapters include: “What Does Christian Love Demand?” and “The Role of Money and Special Interests in Politics” as well as “Wealth and Poverty in America” and “Christians and Churches Doing Politics.” In these pages, individuals, small groups and entire congregations will discover hopeful and effective new strategies to engage the larger world while embodying the central calling of their faith.
Download or read book The Health of Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender People written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals-often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT-are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about their health status. While LGBT populations often are combined as a single entity for research and advocacy purposes, each is a distinct population group with its own specific health needs. Furthermore, the experiences of LGBT individuals are not uniform and are shaped by factors of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical location, and age, any of which can have an effect on health-related concerns and needs. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People assesses the state of science on the health status of LGBT populations, identifies research gaps and opportunities, and outlines a research agenda for the National Institute of Health. The report examines the health status of these populations in three life stages: childhood and adolescence, early/middle adulthood, and later adulthood. At each life stage, the committee studied mental health, physical health, risks and protective factors, health services, and contextual influences. To advance understanding of the health needs of all LGBT individuals, the report finds that researchers need more data about the demographics of these populations, improved methods for collecting and analyzing data, and an increased participation of sexual and gender minorities in research. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People is a valuable resource for policymakers, federal agencies including the National Institute of Health (NIH), LGBT advocacy groups, clinicians, and service providers.
