Ellen Lewin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226537177
- eISBN:
- 9780226537344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226537344.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gay and Lesbian Studies
This chapter focuses on the "double consciousness" of being black and LGBT, particularly since membership in a church is such a central part of black identity. But black churches have historically ...
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This chapter focuses on the "double consciousness" of being black and LGBT, particularly since membership in a church is such a central part of black identity. But black churches have historically denied the presence of non-heterosexual members, and have demeaned those in their midst. The chapter details the strategies LGBT persons have used to manage their marginalized position in their home churches, reviews efforts in various religious organizations to welcome LGBT people, and offers an account of the formation of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries.Less
This chapter focuses on the "double consciousness" of being black and LGBT, particularly since membership in a church is such a central part of black identity. But black churches have historically denied the presence of non-heterosexual members, and have demeaned those in their midst. The chapter details the strategies LGBT persons have used to manage their marginalized position in their home churches, reviews efforts in various religious organizations to welcome LGBT people, and offers an account of the formation of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries.
James Hudnut-Beumler
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781469640372
- eISBN:
- 9781469640396
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469640372.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
In no area is contemporary southern Christianity more deeply divided than over the issue of sexuality. Younger people (including many self-described Bible-believing Christians) do not think that ...
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In no area is contemporary southern Christianity more deeply divided than over the issue of sexuality. Younger people (including many self-described Bible-believing Christians) do not think that being gay has anything to do with one’s status before God, nor should it have before the law or in the family of faith. Baby boomers may be the last generation to feel otherwise, but for now gender identity and sexuality is a battleground. This chapter, however, is not about the southern Christians who exclude and decry their LGBT neighbors. It is about the several million gay southerners who bear up under that pressure while often holding on to the Christian faith that supposedly drives those who would exclude them. The chapter focusses on the LGBT Christians in the South and their allies who in the contemporary period have decided to be quiet no longer but instead to be proudly Christian and gay, and the growing minority of congregations that have staked out a publicly affirming identity of welcome. For these LGBT people of faith and their allies, the Christian message has sometimes proved stronger and more redemptive than all the resistance they have encountered from other Christians because of their identities.Less
In no area is contemporary southern Christianity more deeply divided than over the issue of sexuality. Younger people (including many self-described Bible-believing Christians) do not think that being gay has anything to do with one’s status before God, nor should it have before the law or in the family of faith. Baby boomers may be the last generation to feel otherwise, but for now gender identity and sexuality is a battleground. This chapter, however, is not about the southern Christians who exclude and decry their LGBT neighbors. It is about the several million gay southerners who bear up under that pressure while often holding on to the Christian faith that supposedly drives those who would exclude them. The chapter focusses on the LGBT Christians in the South and their allies who in the contemporary period have decided to be quiet no longer but instead to be proudly Christian and gay, and the growing minority of congregations that have staked out a publicly affirming identity of welcome. For these LGBT people of faith and their allies, the Christian message has sometimes proved stronger and more redemptive than all the resistance they have encountered from other Christians because of their identities.
Ellen Lewin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780226537177
- eISBN:
- 9780226537344
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226537344.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gay and Lesbian Studies
This book explores the worship and community central to the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), a coalition of predominantly African American, LGBT congregations with a Pentecostal style of ...
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This book explores the worship and community central to the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), a coalition of predominantly African American, LGBT congregations with a Pentecostal style of worship. TFAM's central doctrine is "radical inclusivity," a commitment to embrace all those who might have been rejected or marginalized by mainstream black churches, but which has been expanded to include all persons regardless of race, sexuality, or religious background. The book looks closely at how TFAM worship is legitimated through the use of historical insignia of black culture, how it challenges traditional concepts of charismatic leadership, and how it elaborates ideas about authenticity.Less
This book explores the worship and community central to the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM), a coalition of predominantly African American, LGBT congregations with a Pentecostal style of worship. TFAM's central doctrine is "radical inclusivity," a commitment to embrace all those who might have been rejected or marginalized by mainstream black churches, but which has been expanded to include all persons regardless of race, sexuality, or religious background. The book looks closely at how TFAM worship is legitimated through the use of historical insignia of black culture, how it challenges traditional concepts of charismatic leadership, and how it elaborates ideas about authenticity.
