Pastors that are gay

Early on in my faith journey, as I grew up in an American evangelical context in Baltimore, Maryland, I could never see how these two integral pieces of my person would ever meet. In nearly every major civil rights movement that has happened in the world, there has been a strong religious component that helped to educate, empower, and mobilize the masses to take action to overturn unjust systems and structures in their lives and societies.

The Abrahamic traditions declare that all human beings have been created in the image and likeness of our Creator. All churches in this directory have mara gaye msnbc bio that their congregation, in some form or fashion, is an affirming.

Our very presence within faith communities offers them yet another perspective on their faith and worldview, and without us, they are left lacking. Without the presence and contribution of the queer community, religious communities themselves are left greatly lacking.

[] The highest level of the United Methodist Church at that time voted to strengthened punishments for 1) pastors who are non-celibate gay people, or 2) pastors who perform same-sex weddings. As the LGBT rights movement continues to expand around the world, we need to support our queer siblings globally who lead the fight for more equality in countries that are significantly more religious, and often times, more fundamentalist.

Despite the common narrative in Western society, affiliation with religion is not declining. I believed that in order to maintain my authentic faith, I needed to sacrifice my sexual identity so that I would remain in faithful standing before God and the Church.

In order for our faith communities to reflect this uniqueness and creativity that is part of the very nature of our conception of God, we must, then, welcome the full diversity of humanity into our midst. Even in the LGBT rights movement globally, religious leaders such as Bishop Paul Colton, Reverend Kapya John Kaoma, Bishop Joseph Tolton, and Bishop Gene Robinson, have played an integral role by being strong allies and supporters of the queer community, and by working to change the hearts gay minds of their congregants who may that religious justifications for are opposition of queer rights.

My life is evidence of the fact that queer identity and religious faith do not have to stand in opposition to one another, and my journey shows that when they are brought together, they become a powerful tool for social and spiritual renewal in our world.

Subscribe to our newsletter. In order to support our queer siblings in their struggle for more equality and dignity in their countries, it will be essential that we as a global movement organize and empower affirming religious leaders of all traditions to live fully into their roles as allies, advocating and demanding equity for LGBT people both within their religious traditions and in their societies as a whole.

Their proposal was rejected by the February 26, General Conference vote. Have something to share? And even in the Western world, while attendance in institutions of organized religion is declining, the amount of people expressing an interest in and exploring faith and spirituality broadly continues to increase.

As a Christian minister, I believe that queer people and all people are created in the image of God. I believe that our gifts, perspective, and experience is vital to helping faith communities understand God and themselves more fully.

Religious and spiritual communities have been an integral part of human civilization for as long as we have been conscious, and they form the foundation of one of the most powerful tools for influencing and organizing people towards a collective goal. The intent of our Affirming Church Directory™ is to provide an online resource for people to locate and visit welcoming Christian churches around the world.

When we exclude LGBT people from our faith communities, we not only participate in their own sense of dehumanization, but we also dehumanize ourselves, because to be fully pastor is to reflect God in all of their creative expansiveness.

Post in the comments on this post on our Facebook page! Then Someone Asked Me A Question That Turned My Life Upside Down. But it is not only the LGBT community that needs the partnership of the religious community. In my book, True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical EmbraceI note the following theological truth is relevant not only to the Christian tradition, but to all of the Abrahamic faith traditions:.

These same traditions also declare that the Creator is eternally expansive, diverse, and creative in their very nature. As a gay Christian pastor, I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on the ways that my queer identity intersects with my Christian faith.

Muslim writer Haya Muhammad Eid describes this name of God in the following way :.

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We list congregations that meet on a regular basis in a physical location for worship, prayer, service and fellowship. Read more here: www. In the global South, thousands of people are converting to various religious traditions, including Islam, Pentecostal Christianity, and Mormonism, in record numbers.

It was in the tension created between these two moments in my journey that led me to see just how important progressive, inclusive religion could be to the healing and advancement of the human rights of LGBT individuals around the world. I Was A Pastor At A Megachurch.