R.W. Holmen's Blog: Spirit of a Liberal, page 3

Methodist Queer Clergy

As momentum swells for Methodist marriage equality, could queer clergy ordination issues again resurface?



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The Naming Project: Ten years of summer camps for queer kids and allies

A space for youth to find community and know that they were safe and accepted for who they were.



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Following the Presbyterian General Assembly from afar

While the decades-long debate over LGBT ordination occupied the attention of the Presbyterian church, the issue of rites of blessing remained secondary. Now that Presbyterian ordinations of gays and lesbians are occurring regularly, attention has switched to marriage equality.



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Did the Movement for Marriage Equality Begin in 2008? One Chapter in a Larger Narrative

Against well-entrenched religious opposition to all things gay, progressive religious leaders were early voices “crying in the wilderness,” and decades of advocacy within religious spheres have largely prepared the good soil for recent marriage equality policy breakthroughs.



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James: the dangerous brother of Jesus

Why don't the folks in the pews know about James? Could it be that he was not forgotten but intentionally erased from the story?



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The Failed Attempt to Blunt Progressive Christianity

The neo-conservative intention of thwarting the social justice impulses of progressive Christianity has been a singular failure.



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Cast of characters: Guy Erwin

At the 2009 ELCA Church Wide Assembly, two notable measures passed. The first was a social statement on human sexuality, and the second was a revision in ministry policies that recognized and supported gay and lesbian relationships and welcomed such partners into the pulpit. The vote on the social statement came first, following a tornado […]



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Cast of Characters: Amy DeLong

As I turned to my conversation partner he immediately said to me, “Amy, tell me about the most important thing in your life.” I wanted to tell him about Val, but I couldn’t. I wanted to tell him about her children whom we were raising together, but I couldn’t. So I talked about my cat. […]



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Cast of characters: Scott Anderson

In the late eighties, Bethany Presbyterian of Sacramento was a bustling, thriving congregation. Because of the congregation’s strong, service-oriented presence in the community, Bethany would soon receive the Ecumenical Service Award presented by the General Assembly. Rev. Scott Anderson, their head pastor, was an integral part of their successful ministries. But then he was outed. […]



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California, here I come

Here’s my itinerary for a week-long speaking and book signing tour out west. Presumably, weather won’t interfere like it did for my recent Chicago tour. Old First Presbyterian San Francisco The tour starts with a visit to a historic congregation in the heart of San Francisco. Organized in 1849, Old First claims to be the […]



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