Our Strangely Warmed Hearts by Oliveto Karen P

Author:Oliveto, Karen P. [Oliveto, Karen P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2018-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

SECTION TWO

COMING OUT AS AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD’S GRACE

The United Methodist Church has been debating the lives of faithful United Methodists who happen to be LGBTQ for more than four decades, turning them into an issue to be resolved rather than children of God who possess a testimony of their relationship with a risen savior, people who have had their spirituality shaped by our Wesleyan understandings of grace and sanctification.

Is there any other group that we would marginalize in this way?

What has been lacking in our denominational debate has been conversations with United Methodist LGBTQ clergy and laity. Instead of looking for fruits of the Spirit or the way God has touched and changed their lives, the denomination has allowed non-LGBTQ people define the lives of LGBTQ people and invalidate their personal relationships with Jesus Christ.

What follows are the personal stories of ten LGBTQ United Methodists. They are clergy and laity. Four are people of color. Each of our five jurisdictions as well as a central conference is represented here. Ten people speak of how The United Methodist Church helped them fall in love first with God, and then with the church, even when the church tried to withhold its love and acceptance of them. These are but ten stories. Know that there are thousands more yet to be told.

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