Perhaps the most gut-wrenching stage in the sadly predictable grief cycle following atrocities such as the one in Orlando just over a week ago, where a gunman opened fire inside a gay nightclub killing 49 and wounding 50+ more, is…
U.S. religious leaders reexamine words after Orlando gay club massacre
Church leaders are reckoning with religious views often hostile to homosexuality after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub, with some wondering if they are contributing to breeding contempt.
Why conservatives won’t identify the Orlando shooting victims as LGBTQ+
There has been a concerted effort from conservative politicians, religious groups, celebrities, and even the media to erase LGBT people from the story.
Minister in Orlando church finds herself at center of response to shootings
Megan Currie was set to preach her first Sunday sermon June 12 at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando, where she is serving as a summer intern. But a gunman’s murderous rampage, just over a mile away, kept her out…
Muslim leaders: ‘We will not allow the extremists to define us’
More than 200 Muslims, including dozens of American imams and scholars, have issued a joint statement condemning the attacks on a gay night club in Orlando on Sunday that killed 49 people.
A time for prayer, but what kind?
Sunday night several hundred people gathered in my city to pray. We went to our prayer vigil place — the steps of the governmental plaza in Greensboro, N.C., where we’d gathered before. Some of the candles still held the wax…
Louisville and Orlando, 2016
On Nov. 17, 1999, I met Muhammad Ali. It was at the Cathedral of the Assumption on 5th Street in Louisville, Ky., in a Cathedral Heritage Series of ecumenical gatherings. I was the preacher for an interfaith Thanksgiving service, and…
People of all faiths deal with ‘spiritual abuse’ following Orlando attack
Revenge and judgment are swirling through the culture since a lone gunman killed 49 and injured 53 in an Orlando gay night club early Sunday morning. But Ruth Jensen-Forbell and her mostly LGBTQ church in St. Augustine, Fla., aren’t among…
Experiencing the seasons — including those of life
After living in Orlando, Florida for ten and a half years, my wife and I longed for seasons other than hot and rainy. Moving to Dalton, Georgia three years ago this November we were reminded of what we love about…
The glass ceiling for women in ministry only slightly cracked
I recently returned from the Exponential church planting conference in Orlando where I spent time thinking about women in ministry; especially women in church planting. I sat in on all three workshop sessions led or co-led by a woman in…