A two-decades-old dispute between the state of Kentucky and a Baptist child care agency turned two pages in opposite directions within a few days, offering anything but clarity about the situation. On one hand, Sunrise Children’s Services, an agency of…
Rachel Held Evans started the story, Matthew Paul Turner picked it up, and the result is hope for children of all ages
Parents often are asked more than once this age-old question “What is God like?” Matthew Paul Turner and the late Rachel Held Evans attempt to answer that question for parents and children in a new children’s book, What is God…
Panelists make the Christian case against conversion therapy: It harms people
Ministries that promise to transform gay people into straight people instead cause immense spiritual, emotional and physical trauma that can take decades of counseling to undo, according to the panelists on an Aug. 24 BNG webinar titled “The Christian Case…
Pastors, speak your truth while you still have time
“Make your peace with being honest in ministry today. Don’t wait until you’re older or find the ‘perfect’ church. If you aren’t honest today, you may never make it that far.” I was a youth minister when my pastor and…
‘Pray Away’ and the harms of the conversion therapy movement
This week, “Pray Away” — a documentary detailing the history and harms of conversion therapy — released on Netflix. It chronicles the rise and fall of Exodus International, whose primary mission was to make people “struggling with” homosexuality straight. During…
BNG co-sponsors free webinar: ‘The Christian Case Against Conversion Therapy’
A free webinar exploring the dangers of conversion therapy for members of the LGBTQ community is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 24, at noon Central time. The webinar, titled “The Christian Case Against Conversion Therapy,” falls in the same month that…
American support for same-sex marriage continues to increase, even as religious conservatives battle LGBTQ community on other fronts
Bipartisan support for same-sex marriage in America continues to soar forward, even while some state legislatures are attempting to enact a raft of other anti-LGBTQ bills. Having lost their previous crusade against same-sex marriage, religious conservatives now are driving Republican…
New ‘non-binary’ category almost a non-event for United Methodists
What if United Methodists faced a potential conflict and nobody cared? That seems to be the case with a new “non-binary” category for local church membership reports. Something that would have caused massive fireworks in the past has been announced…
A call from an old friend ended with disappointment but also a reminder of why I must love those who disagree with me
I just finished a call with an old friend of mine — “old” not in the sense of his age but in the sense that our active friendship grew dormant more than a quarter of a century ago. Space fails…