Categories: on-blogging, spiritual-journey, sexuality
Date: 28 October 2012 16:45:08
Torn is the forthcoming book from Justin Lee (who heads up GCN and blogs over at crumbs from the communion table) and is published by Jericho Books, it's out November the 13th - that's if you're in the US. Over here in the UK the same book is being published by Hodder Faith who have given it the title Unconditional and are due to be publishing it on January 17th. Looking forward to being able to get a copy to review on this blog when it come its out. It's a book which I understand seeks to show how the narrative which looks to set members of the gay community and those in the Christian community as enemies is reductionist and the truth is much more complicated whilst being rooted in some truth, particularly in the USA but also elsewhere including the UK. What Lee is seeking to do is advocate the role of gay Christians in bringing reconciliation and understanding between the two communities. A similar message has come in the past from Jeremy Marks who ran the group Courage. After twenty five years of running Courage, which took an interesting journey to becoming an affirming group which can be read about in his book Exchanging the Truth of God for a Lie , Jeremy has retired this year. A new network is emerging which includes some members of Courage but also others and is called Two:23 Network. They have their first meeting in London next month. Another group which seeks to support LGBT Christians Europe, primarily through the web, is Gay Christian Europe. Each of those things mentioned above is a resource there to help people on their journeys whatever their journey is. Two other helpful resources I'd refer to are Living it Out a survival guide for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Christians and their friends, families and churches and the work of Peterson Toscano. As I sit here on the 8th birthday of this blog reflecting I raise a smile because in someway people involved in each of those groups or books has a place in my journey and in the blog. My own coming out story is largely documented in this post from March 2010 when I was lucky enough to be invited by the LGBT group at Sheffield Hallam to give a talk on faith and orientation sharing my story - to that point - with them. This was something I was also able to do at Dundee University (as a result of my involvement with the Living it Out book) on an evening when they were also showing the film For the Bible Tells Me So. There have also been a range of other posts over the years on this blog which related to where I was in the journey at that point. A particularly moving one came in 2008 after seeing Peterson perform the poem Riddles during his show on the Lambeth Conference fringe One benefit of having blogged for so long is that I have a way of looking back on my journey and where I have been at various points. This is really useful because it means I have a way of seeing and measuring my own confidence and growth. I also hope in sharing these things over the years and in my current occasional posts on my current journey outlining what it means to be a gay woman who is in love and sharing their life with somebody has come out out as transgender and is on that journey I am able to help others in some way. The hope is I'll either be helping them realise that "it's not just them" and hopefully able to signpost them on to some sources of support or more usually through helping people understand a little more about either the LGBandTI community or Christian/ faith community through sharing my (and now our) story. Was I always so open? No...for the first few years of this blog the relationship between faith and sexuality was there but more as an unseen narrative. It informed many posts and indeed my original reasons for taking time out of church/ trying to move away from that sub-culture which in turn led me to blogging but it was, in my mind, something taboo and something not to be talked about. I think and hope that the writings on the blog have become generally less angst ridden and far more mature over the eight years because I know I have. Even looking back to the 2008 post I've just linked to I can't believe how far I've come in those few years. Life changes and moves on and thankfully so has my relationship with both "the church" and my own sexuality. If this blog represents anything I hope it represents hope and can be seen as a demonstration of how somebody can move from a place in their own mind of repression, fear and dissonance to one of relative confidence, hope and security.