Dear parent, I’m writing today with a tough ask. I’m asking you not only to give a loving reception if your child “comes out” as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or queer. I’m asking you to imagine that day even if…
After UMC lifted bans on homosexuality, U.S. churches report calm while African churches see conflict
United Methodists in the United States are reporting their annual meetings are calmer and more joyful this year after the denomination’s top lawmaking body, the General Conference, removed the UMC’s 52-year-old policy holding “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with…
Some traditionalist bishops revolt after Vatican allows ‘blessing’ same-sex couples
Pope Francis may have authorized non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, but not everyone in the Catholic hierarchy is going along. Traditionalist bishops, particularly in Africa and Asia, already are revolting and defying the pope’s supposedly unquestionable authority. In a recent…
Vatican’s new stance on blessing same-sex couples draws praise and ire
This week’s bombshell announcement from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that Catholic priests may now use their discretion to bless individuals in same-sex relationships and others in “irregular situations” has sparked intense debate and varied reactions…
As a 21-year-old seminarian, David Fearon challenged the RSV translators on the word ‘homosexual’
David Sheldon Fearon, 84, died peacefully in his home in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada at the beginning of January. On Oct. 22, 1959, Fearon, then a 21-year-old seminary student at McGill University’s School of Religious Studies, Montréal, Quebec, wrote…
Should adultery and homosexuality be illegal? Mohler weighs in
“Should adultery be illegal? What about homosexuality?” These were questions posed to Al Mohler from a Christian schoolteacher who passed along ideas from a class discussion with his students. Four days before today’s mid-term elections, Mohler answered these questions in…
After 30 years, the NRSV gets an update: Here’s what that means
In a nation where the 1611 King James Version of the Bible still holds tremendous sway, imagine the challenges of updating one of the modern English translations of the Good Book. That’s why Friendship Press, the National Council of Churches…
My quest to find the word ‘homosexual’ in the Bible
I was born and raised in a Southern Baptist church by two incredibly amazing parents who dearly love the Lord. It was a great experience. I remember Sunday school and Training Union, contributing to Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong for…
CBF church booted from Southern Baptist association for embracing LGBTQ members
First Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia — a flagship Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation kicked out of the Georgia Baptist Convention in 2009 for calling a woman as pastor – has been excommunicated by the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association because of homosexuality.