[Here is a link to a website that offers resources for LGBTQ folks with needs in areas such as addiction, domestic violence, and veteran-related issues: The Recovery Village, Ridgefield.]
A two part story challenging the standard account on the creation story and the writings of Paul.
- Why the creation story can’t carry the weight the restrictive view puts on it: The Bible and LGBTQ inclusion [Part 1] (October 2, 2017)
- Why it is important to recognize that Paul didn’t write about “homosexuality”: The Bible and LGBTQ inclusion [Part 2] (October 4, 2017)
I posted a four-part series on “The Mennonite Failure to Find Common Ground on LGBTQ Inclusion” in August/September 2017.
- Reflections on a thirty-year journey (August 21, 2017)
- Learning from the journey (August 22, 2017)
- Appendix one: Romans 1:26-27 (August 28, 2017)
- Appendix two: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (September 4, 2017)
In September 2016 I published the book Mennonites and “Homosexuality”: The Struggle to Become a Welcoming Church with Peace Theology Books. This is a collection of numerous essays, lectures, and blog posts, many adapted from the pieces linked to below. Here is the introduction to that book.
I have written a number of reviews on books related to these themes. Here’s a list, with the more recent reviews first:
- David Gushee, Changing Our Mind, 3rd ed. (July 20, 2017)
- James Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality (July 5, 2016)
- Mark Achtemeier, The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage (May 24, 2016)
- Preston Sprinkle, People to Be Love: Why Homosexuality is not Just an Issue (March 31, 2016)
- Sean McDowell and John Stonestreet, Same-Sex Marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God’s Design for Marriage (January 5, 2015)
- David Gushee, Changing Our Mind, 1st ed. (December 19, 2014)
- Wesley Hill, Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (November 10, 2014)
- Matthew Vine, God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case for Same-Sex Relationships (November 2, 2014)
- Jeffrey Chu, Does Jesus Really Love Me? A Gay Christian’s Pilgrimage in Search of God in America (October 6, 2014)
I wrote a multi-part series critiquing Rod Dreher’s book, The Benedict Option. The third post was “Dreher’s Benedict Option: part 3—Same-Sex Marriage as the Paradigmatic Problem.” (May 8, 2017)
Recent ferment in the Mennonite Church USA triggered a number of blog posts (the older ones come first on this list):
- “Will Mennonite Church USA Survive? Reflections on Three Decades of Struggle” (part 1) (February 28, 2014)
- “Will MC USA Survive?” (part 2) (February 28, 2014)
- “‘Othering’ and Mennonite Sexuality Struggles” (March 9, 2014)
- “How Mennonites Church USA Might Survive: A Fantasy” (March 23, 2014).
- “Why Eastern Mennonite University Should Stop Discriminating” (part one) (March 30, 2014)
- “Why Eastern Mennonite University Should Stop Discriminating” (part two) (March 30, 2014)
- “Is the Survival of Mennonite Church USA Now Less Likely?” (July 1, 2014)
- “Is the Mennonite (Church USA) Project Doomed? Some Ruminations” (April 21, 2015)
- “Mennonites and Separation: More Ruminations” (April 29, 2015)
- “The ‘End’ of Mennonite Church USA” (May 12, 2015)
- “Describing the Mennonite Church USA “Conflict” (June 19, 2015)
- “MC USA’s ‘Membership Guidelines’, A History” (July 15, 2015).
- “Mennonite Church USA’s Moral Crisis” (October 27, 2015).
- “What’s Wrong with MC USA’s Membership Guidelines” (December 3, 2015).
- “Moral Discernment and Same-Sex Marriage: Why Welcome is the Best Policy” (January 7, 2016).
In January, 2015, I had the chance to give my basic presentation on the churches and same-sex relationships. This time it was at Oak Grove Mennonite Church near Smithville, Ohio. Here are some reflections on the experience. This is the sermon I gave, “What Matters Most to Jesus.”And this is my lecture, “The Bible and Same-Sex Marriage.”
An earlier post, expanding a presentation given at First Mennonite Church, Canton, Ohio on March 24, 2013. This develops further some of the ideas from my May 2012 blog posts. The overall series is called: “A Biblical Theology of Welcome: Toward an Embrace of Gay Marriage.” Part one: Hospitality. Part two: Marriage. Part three: Biblical teaching.
Here is a three part posting from May 2012 that provides my perspective: “A basic Christian argument for affirming gay marriage” (Part I—May 20, 2012; Part II—May 21, 2012; Part III—May 22, 2012).
These are several other blog posts (older ones come first):
- “Jesus and ‘homosexuality’: What did he do?” (April 21, 2012)
- “Jesus and ‘homosexuality,’ part 2” (April 27, 2012)
- “The Mennonite Confession of Faith and ‘homosexuality’” (May 9, 2012).
- “Homosexuality, hiring practices, and the Mennonite confession of faith” (April 30, 2013)
- “Damaging the Christian Faith? Questions About Some Anti-Gay Sentiments” (April 27, 2014)
- “Is There a Third-Way” Regarding Same-Sex Marriage and the Churches” (August 4, 2014)
I am privileged to be able to host an excellent research article by recent Goshen College grad, Kelly Miller. She takes a close look at a recent case of a Mennonite conference disciplining a pastor for supporting welcoming gays.
My essay “The Logic of the Mennonite Church USA ‘Teaching Position’ on Homosexuality” has been published in Brethren Life and Thought volume 55, numbers 1-2 (Winter-Spring 2010), 10-23. It is a slightly revised version of the article I posted on this website July 2010.
The weekend of February 5-7, 2010, I presented three lectures as part of a conversation on homosexuality at Portland (Oregon) Mennonite Church. Here are the three lectures, plus a fourth article where I sketch several of the issues that came up over the weekend that I would address could I give the lectures over again.
I have co-authored a book with Mark Thiessen Nation, Professor of Theology, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, where we debate the issue of homosexuality. Here is a link to information about the book, called, Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality
Here is a link to my main chapter in this book, “A Theology of Welcome.”
Here is a link to an essay I wrote summarizing the views of both “restrictive” and “inclusive”writers.
Here is the text of my contribution to a “Conversation on Homosexuality” forum at Eastern Mennonite University, February 19, 2009.
This is a quite lengthy and quite critical review of Robert Gagnon’s influential book, The Bible and Homosexual Practice.
Two responses to Willard Swartley’s book, Homosexuality: Biblical Interpretation and Moral Discernment. The first is a fairly lengthy book review; the second includes critical notes made as I was reading and preparing the more formal reveiw.
Here are links to several shorter articles on homosexuality that I published in the Welcome Series of Booklets.
Thinking Pacifism 
2 thoughts on ““HOMOSEXUALITY””