Every November, the Princeton University Chapel would host a vigil for Transgender Day of Remembrance, commemorating the lives of trans people worldwide who had been victims of anti-trans violence. As associate dean of the chapel, I welcomed the university and…
When we can’t hear our children’s cries
I still can see the face of the distraught mother who came to me after I had preached at a church in Nebraska. She approached me tentatively; I noticed her, but as I was signing books. I thought maybe she…
My home state is no longer safe for my family
My family and I are refugees in our own country. I’m just trying to be a good parent and love my kids, but the state that always has been my home no longer is a safe place for me and…
Spurred on by conservatives’ fears, Tennessee turns down federal funds to fight HIV/AIDS
June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, but beginning June 1, testing and treating HIV/AIDS in Tennessee will become more challenging for residents. Gov. Bill Lee has rejected a multi-million-dollar federal grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a…
Colorado cake maker back in court, this time for refusing service to a transgender woman
Jack Phillips went all the way to the United States Supreme Court to avoid making a cake for a same-sex wedding, and now he’s in court once again wanting to avoid decorating a cake for a gender transition celebration. Phillips,…
Of Margie, mountains and ‘El Shaddai’
I learned a lot of things in seminary, like how to perform baptisms and administer Communion, why understanding cultural context is important when reading and interpreting Scripture, and the importance of sneaking Amy Grant lyrics into almost any theological conversation….
Members of Florida church required to sign ‘biblical sexuality’ statement or be removed from membership
Members of a Jacksonville, Fla., Baptist church have until March 19 to sign a statement on “biblical sexuality” or be removed from membership. All members of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville are required to sign a form that indicates their…
How our view of creation and incarnation shape our view of intersex people
Every disconnection from communal wholeness goes back to a disconnection within the self, which is fundamentally experienced in bodies. So the way Christians talk about Jesus being born as a human body has the potential to shape either wholeness or…
33 House Republicans introduce bill to ban talking about sex and gender with children under age 10
The conservative evangelical agenda to define any discussion with children of sexual orientation or gender identity as sexually perverse could become federal law if a group of Republican Congressmen get their way. Rep. Mike Johnson, a Southern Baptist from Louisiana,…