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Volume 11, Issue 3

Growing Together: A Community of Harvest

Cover Stories

The Seed Rejoices
By Rev. Candace Chellew
It occurred to me that as we walk through a beautiful garden or a lush forest, no one gives the seed the glory. Instead, they admire the beautiful flower or the mighty oak that grows from the seed. The seed itself is never given a place of honor, but its fruit — impossible without the seed — is always recognized.

It’s the Real Thing
By Lori Heine
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks have a vocation from God that, in many ways, resembles that of Christ Himself. He royally pissed off a lot of very powerful people, and He was killed for it. Likewise, our calling seems to be to upset the proverbial apple cart — to comfort the afflicted, sure enough, but also to afflict the comfortable. To challenge hate, and to help bring about a more loving world.

A City on a Hill
By John H. Campbell
Let your light shine. It doesn’t have to be anything grandiose or spectacular. Even if it’s just a little light, it will illuminate hope into the life of someone who needs it… and I think that is what this life is supposed to be all about.

Homospirituality

Some of My Remarks Regarding Christianity and Same-Sex Love
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
We are usually not dealing with intellectually and spiritually honest people when we deal with homophobes who cloak their prejudices in faulty biblical exegeses, and refuse to live out the Gospel when it comes to LGBT people. This fact is not unlike the role of racists in the “Church” in the middle part of the last century.

Imagine the Possibilities
By Becky Taylor
If we focused on God’s vision — of love and longing to be in relationship — the answer seemed to be, imagine the possibilities, then get with it and create this community that you’re dreaming about.

Features

Excerpt From the Book Going to Heaven: The Life and Election of Bishop Gene Robinson
By Elizabeth Adams
Clearly, the center of opposition to the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church was not holding. But just as Barbara Harris’s election as bishop had re-ignited vehement opposition to women’s ordination, the church did not seem ready to accept an openly gay bishop.

Used
By Martin E. Marty
David Kuo is as well positioned as anyone to give behind-the-scenes views of how the “elites” in the administration in Washington regard their most faithful and core supporters: “goofy” and “nuts” are among the in-house words applied, says Kuo.

A Church Without Walls
By Gareth Fenley
Jesus drew such big crowds just by preaching on the hills that feeding all those people in a pinch was a problem calling for divine intervention. But for Rev. Paul M. Turner’s small flock, free food is a planned attraction and the church itself could be the miracle.

Controversial New Book Tackles Black Church Homophobia
By Rev. Candace Chellew
Attempting to break “hundreds of years of silence,” a new, controversial book argues that pervasive homophobia in the historically black church has reached “crisis” proportion.

The Co-Optation of Christianity
By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker
The “Church” has allowed itself to be co-opted by opportunistic politicians and clergy where the name of God is used to hurt, demean, condemn, discriminate, ostracize, and even kill others.

Letters to the Editor

A Decade of Whosoever

Blessed by Community
By Brady Ennis
I feel very blessed to be part of the Whosoever community, knowing that I am not alone in this world.

Finding a Home Online
By Michael W. R. Crile
Had it not been for Whosoever during these past few months, I would not have been able to handle the fact that I nearly lost the love of my life. The friends that I have made here are not just friendships made here on earth, but also wonderful friendships that we will be able to take to heaven.

Same-Gender Marriage

So, Who’s Getting Married in New Jersey?
By Stephen Parelli
Civil unions for gays and lesbians is not freedom, it is toleration; marriage is equality and therefore freedom. Civil Unions for gays is a concession; it is not civil liberties.

From the Pulpit

God Has Never Disappointed You
By Rev. Candace Chellew
I submit to you today that God has never disappointed you. God has always been there — through the bad times, in the good times, in the dull times, in the stable times, in the storm, in the calm, in the grief, in the pain, in the joy, in the doubt, in the love, in the hate, in the distress, in the relief. At no time have you been left to your own devices.

Shaking the Dust Off for God
By Gary Simpson
The stronger the rejection, the more powerful the witness. That is why queer Christians are becoming a powerful force for God! When Christians live out the faith with loving service to humanity, their lives are a testimony that convicts those who rejected them. And their lives serve as a testimony to those who witnessed the persecution they endured as they served the Lord faithfully.

The Impossible Choice
By Eric Dale Eubanks
Instead of splitting our world and ourselves into secular/spirit, we are called out by God in Christ to the freedom of integration and wholeness.

Bible Study and Inspiration

Do We Know How To Be a Friend?
By Rev. Suzie Chamness
We’ve all had friends who will drop anything and help us out. Are we the kind of friend that would drop something and help them out? That’s the kind of person Paul is esteeming; he is admiring it. He recognizes this in Tychicus.

God’s Welcome Is a Funny Thing
By Emmy Kegler
God’s welcome is a funny thing. I do not know if God is challenged by the welcome He extends. I don’t know if God is vulnerable. But I know that His people are. God’s people are people like all others — afraid of challenge, afraid of change. Yet by God’s grace, by the Spirit of the Lord, the welcome which once was intended for the keepers of the law of Moses, has now been extended to all.

Holy Humor

Yard Work, as Viewed From Heaven

The Answer Is in the Bible