A Whosoever Church

This book features interviews with twenty black scholars and religious leaders who speak out--from various theological perspectives--against institutional prejudice toward gay and lesbian people. The interviews are conducted in a conversational format in language that will be accessible and interesting to lay readers.

Gary David Comstock is University Protestant Chaplain and Associate Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University in Middleton, Connecticut.

Acknowledgments

ix

Introduction

1

(6)

Part I. Paving the Way

7

(66)

``I Want You to Use My Story, Reverend McDonald, to Help Educate Other People; Tell Them How This Church Responded to Me.''

9

(13)

Timothy McDonald III

``My Responsibility Is to Bring You into the Family, Show That You're Loved in Spite of Whatever the Case May Be, and Not to Sit in Judgment on You.''

22

(12)

Larry C. Menyweather-Woods

``Look for an Open Fellowship That's Driven by Reason, Respect, Relationship, and Reality, That's Resourceful, and That Brings to People Hope and Not Harm.''

34

(13)

Dr. Amos C. Brown

``When I Look Deep Within Myself, When I Go Deep Within Myself, I Come Up Inside of Every Other Human Being or Every Other Creature.''

47

(12)

Dr. Mezell G. Mitchell

``I Really Felt Called to Be Who I Am; and I Didn't Want to Leave My Identity at the Threshold of the Church.''

59

(14)

Irene Monroe

Part II. Charting the Course

73

(64)

``You Understand That the Mainstream Will Try to Wash You Downstream. God Has Made You A Swimmer. Swim.''

75

(11)

Dr. Cecil ``Chip'' Murray

``I Would Encourage Gay People to Stay in the Parish and Help God's Garden of Love and Acceptance Grow Right Here.''

86

(13)

Raymond G. East

``Sometimes There's a Remnant That Gets Dumped on More Than Anybody Else, and That's Okay as Long as We're Getting Hurt for Dong Good and Not Evil.''

99

(13)

Altagracia Perez

``The Great Challenge Is to Provide a Place for Those We Have Feared and Considered Evil, to Recognize That God's Spirit Is with Them, Too.''

112

(13)

Dr. Arnold I. Thomas

``If You Leave the Church, Who's Going to Be There to Fight, Who's Going to Be There to Struggle, Who's Going to Be There to Change Things?''

125

(12)

Dr. Jacquelyn Grant

Part III. Making the Connections

137

(66)

``New Folks Say, `I Got Here and I Just Felt Like No One Was Looking at Me Strange, No One Was Looking at Me Strange, No One Was Treating Me Different, I Was Just Able to Be Here.'''

139

(13)

Edwin C. Sanders II

`` `To Honor and Affirm the Inherent Worth and Dignity of Every Person'; If That Doesn't Include Gay People, Something's Wrong with the Way We Express Our Faith.''

152

(11)

Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley

``At the End of the Day, Will God Be Called Mother or Father; Will There Be Any Basic Difference between Male and Female; Will the Difference between Gay, Straight, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Matter?''

163

(13)

Dr. James A. Forbes Jr.

``Because We Are All Children of the Same Heavenly Father, We Have an Obligation to Be in Relationship with Our Brothers and Sisters, No Matter Who They Are.''

176

(13)

Russell L. Dillard

``We All Have to Be Working on Issues That Don't Necessarily Directly Affect Us but Do in Fact Affect Us All as Human Beings.''

189

(14)

Dr. Renee L. Hill

Part IV. Reflection and Prophecy

203

(66)

``On All Issues Dealing with Human Life and Suffering, We Are Obligated to Take a Stand. Fighting for Justice Anywhere Always Empowers a Struggle for Justice Everywhere. It Is Never Disconnected; It Is Always Interrelated. Only after You See Those Connections Will You Really Be Able to Understand What Your Own Struggle Is About.''

205

(13)

Dr. James H. Cone

``It Makes a Difference When Your Favorite Uncle Dies from AIDS and Doesn't Want the Church He Was Raised in to Do His Funeral but Wants You to Do It.''

218

(14)

Dr. Emilie M. Townes

``Don't Be Somewhere That Is Destroying You, Because God Doesn't Call Us to Be Destroyed and Dismantled and to Suffer.''

232

(10)

Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas

``Lesbians and Gay Men Are Reading Back to Us How We Behave toward Them: They're Calling into Question Our Rejection and Our Fears; and I Think That's Very Healthy and Important.''

242

(13)

Dr. M. Shawn Copeland

``Every Door You Bring Down, Every Wall That Comes Down, Every Bridge You Build Takes You to a New Place of Really Becoming the Kind of World God Intends.''

255

(14)

Dr. Yvonne V. Delk

Notes

269

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials