Recommended Books List

Both a handbook for gay and lesbian Christians looking for words and liturgies to express their own experience of life – from coming out to dealing with AIDS – this book is also offered to the clergy wishing to minister more fully to the needs of their congregation. It is a challenging book which combines practical help with inspirational psalms and prayers.

Gay and lesbian theology has been one of the most distinctive voices to have emerged in Christian theology since 1970. It has placed lesbian and gay experience at the heart of the theological process. Elizabeth Stuart, one of the most prominent theologians in this field, presents a critical survey of gay and lesbian theology. She charts the development of gay and lesbian theology from an early apologetic phase, to a more confident liberationist outlook which owed much to Latin American liberation theology and feminist theology, and finally to its current wrestling with queer theory.

A great deal has been written about homosexuality and Christianity. Although generally there is a conscious move towards understanding and incorporating the experiences of gay men and women, the Church’s response has been to treat homosexuality as a problem within sexual ethics. However, a growing number of gay and lesbian Christians, influenced by liberation movements within and outside the Church, are claiming a place in the Church and finding a voice in theological and ecclesiastical discourse. Elizabeth Stuart suggests that gay people may have some important insights to contribute to theological reflection about sexuality, marriage and celibacy – most notably in the understanding of friendship to include our most intimate and committed relationships. This is not a book about whether Christians should accept or affirm gay people and their relationships. Dr Stuart’s concern here is to ask: supposing lesbian and gay people were equal in the sight of God, what then might heterosexual people learn from them? What new and creative ways of relating might emerge to the benefit of the whole community?

People of Passion deals with what Christians are saying now [1997], and have said in the past, about sex. It provides a basic theological resource for those who want to explore issues to do with sex and sexuality from a Christian point of view but feel they need to acquire a broader, more informal perspective on the historical background and contemporary developments. First, it enables clergy, ministers and priests to deal with pastoral situations related to sexuality. Second, with Christianity and sexuality appearing regularly on the curriculum in universities, colleges, seminaries and schools throughout the world, it provides an indispensable, easy-to-read guidebook mapping out the terrain and sketching the contours of current controversies. Third, it is an authoritative source for professional people outside the churches who need to keep in touch with Christian teaching about sex and sexuality.

Since the 1980s there has been a sea-change amongst lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Christians. Many are no longer content to beg a place at the pre-existing table of the institutional Churches. Rather they have found a new confidence in their ability to define their own experience and think theologically about it. Queer theology has emerged as a distinctive, radical and explosive theological tradition of which all in the churches will eventually have to take notice. This theology exposes the heterosexist thought-patterns and assumptions that underlie many Christian doctrines and practices and rescues parts of the tradition helpful to queer Christians which may have been lost along the way. Most importantly of all, it fashions Christian theologies untainted by homophobia and heterosexism.

This book makes queer theology available and accessible to the general reader and encourages its readers to become part of the ongoing development of this theology. It is aimed primarily at queer people who are either new to Christianity or those who are interested in reflecting upon their Christian faith from a queer perspective. It is a study guide which can be used by groups and by individuals and contains exercises and liturgies as well as explanations of queer theology. Subjects covered include the Bible, salvation, Christ, body theology, God, the church, death and ethics, Christian LGBT support groups, churches and individuals.

When gay men and lesbians decide to tell their parents of their sexuality, they have probably already made many trips to the library and (one hopes) found many up-to-date resources on gay sexuality, history, and health. But too often parents find themselves with a severe information deficiency on receiving the news. This book addresses the topic of homosexuality specifically for parents of gay children. The authors enthusiastically endorse P-FLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) as central to their counselling, effectively re-create typical meeting discussions that address the outrage, fears, and emotional distress many parents feel when a child comes out.

David K. Switzer is Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas.

The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender presents an unrivalled overview of the theological study of sexuality and gender. Not merely contentious and pervasive topics, sexuality and gender have escalated in importance within theology. Theologians increasingly agree that even the very doctrine of God cannot be contemplated without a prior grappling with each.

Featuring 41 newly-commissioned essays, written by the foremost scholars in the discipline, this authoritative collection presents and develops the latest thinking in the area. Divided into eight thematic sections, the Handbook explores key methodological approaches, concepts, and issues, as well as current controversies within various denominations. Selected essays draw on reason as a distinct source of theology, discussing evolutionary biology and behavioural genetics, psychology, anthropological research, philosophical research, and queer theory. It examines the history of in theologies of sexuality and gender, with close analysis of the Bible and the Christian tradition. The final section considers theology in relation to different expressions of sexual identities.

Coming Out through Fire is for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons who seek to move through the trauma of homophobia with the passion and power of transformation. It is also for pastors, therapists, and other helping professionals who seek to confront prejudice and fear and to further the process of healing and recovery in the church and wider community.

Tigert takes seriously the homophobia evident within the church today, and provides a voice of hope for those who experience oppression as gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians. Through candid stories of her own and others’ struggles with the doctrines of mainline denominations and their stance on the issue of sexuality, the author hopes to open the door to change, healing, and liberation for homosexuals and bisexuals, as well as heterosexuals. Study questions are provided to stimulate individual reflection and group discussion.

Kenyan, Christian, Queer presents four case studies of grassroots LGBT activism through artistic expression. They show how queer Kenyans are using Christian ideas, texts, symbols and practices to transform black African identities and Christian faith. This book was a major focus of the American Academy of Religion’s 2019 annual meeting. The author is associate professor of Religion and African Studies at the University of Leeds.

The authors show not only that African Christian traditions harbour strong potential for countering conservative anti-LGBTI+ dynamics; but also that this potential has already begun to be realised by various thinkers, activists and movements across the continent. Their ten case studies document how leading African writers are reimagining Christian thought; how several Christian-inspired groups are transforming religious practice; and how African cultural production creatively appropriates Christian beliefs and symbols. In short, the book explores Christianity as a major resource for a liberating imagination and politics of sexuality and social justice in Africa today.

Presenting the deeply moving personal life stories of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside an analysis of the process in which they creatively engaged with two Bible stories – ‘Daniel in the Lions’ Den’ and ‘Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery’ – Sacred Queer Stories explores how readings of biblical stories can reveal their experiences of struggle, their hopes for the future, and their faith in God and humanity. Arguing that the telling of life-stories of marginalised people, such as of Ugandan LGBTQ+ refugees, affirms embodied existence and agency, is socially and politically empowering, and enables human solidarity, the authors also show how the Bible as an authoritative religious text and popular cultural archive in Africa is often used against LGBTQ+ people but can also be reclaimed as a site of meaning, healing, and empowerment.

An exploration of the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. Few subjects have divided the Church so sharply, and in this study Michael Vasey considers what the Bible says on the subjects of sexuality, social order, the doctrine of grace, gay identity and how the Church can move forward on this issue.

As a young Christian man, Matthew Vines harboured the same basic hopes of most young people: to someday share his life with someone, to build a family of his own, to give and receive love. But when he realized he was gay, those hopes were called into question. The Bible, he’d been taught, condemned gay relationships. Feeling the tension between his understanding of the Bible and the reality of his same-sex orientation, Vines devoted years of intensive research into what the Bible says about homosexuality.

Unique in its affirmation of both an orthodox faith and sexual diversity, God and the Gay Christian is likely to spark heated debate, sincere soul-search­ing, even widespread cultural change. Not only is it a compelling interpretation of key biblical texts about same-sex relations, it is also the story of a young man navigating relationships with his family, his hometown church, and the Christian church at large as he expresses what it means to be a faithful gay Christian.

NB This book is not specifically about LGBT+ issues, but we have made an exception and included it here because it is so helpful to LGBT+ people from a conservative evangelical/fundamentalist background. It helps them to see that a more open and scholarly approach to Scripture is more biblical, not less.

Do you know what the Bible says about marriage, life after death or the Second Coming of Christ? Do you understand what the Bible teaches about atonement and forgiveness? What do the Gospels tell us about the resurrection of Jesus? Where does the Bible really stand on issues of sexual morality, abortion and same-sex relationships?

Keith Ward, formerly Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford, is well placed to explore what the Bible really says, and he comes to some surprising and challenging conclusions. In many cases he demonstrates that the Bible teaches the exact opposite of what fundamentalists say it does.

In this fascinating and engaging book, he shows how to let the Bible speak and be heard, free from the distortions and bias caused by reading Scripture through the dogmatic lens of fundamentalism. As Professor Ward underlines the importance of allowing the Bible to be its own interpreter, he encourages us to read its life-changing ancient texts with fresh vision and sharp insight.

“Mainline churches,” says Waun, “are so preoccupied with debating the sinfulness of homosexuality that they are missing opportunities to pastor persons who have been turned off by and excluded from the church.”

More Than Welcome tells the story of a pastor who moved from hostile to an affirming position towards LGBT people through meeting and gradually forming friendships with people who are gay. A good book for congregations seeking to become more welcoming to LGBT people.

In this thoughtful and provocative book, Stephen White begins with the premise that the church is attempting to do sexual ethics without first of all examining the theological underpinning of our ideas of right and wrong as seen in the nature of God. From this consideration he proposes guiding qualities of creativity and love as the basis for a new framework of Christian sexual ethics which would have major implications for the ongoing debate on homosexuality in particular, but also for the church’s own self-understanding and ecclesiological identity.

Merry Wiesner-Hanks assesses the role of personal faith and the church itself in the control and expression of all aspects of sexuality. The book ranges over developments within Europe and beyond to the European colonies which were establishing themselves around the world.

Christian missionaries, and Christian rituals and structures, accompanied all of the imperial powers, and the control of the sexuality of both indigenous peoples and colonists was an essential part of policy. The book is introduced with an account of the central concepts in the study of sexuality in Christianity, such as shame, sin, the body, marriage and gender.

This is not a book about homosexuality. It is not a book about religion, or spirituality, or churches. It is a book about people.

For Christianity, the issue of ‘homosexuality’ threatens to create a yawning chasm within several mainline denominations. But there is a problem with these debates: each takes place primarily over the heads of the actual people whose lives are affected.

In many religious groups the situation is worse: the debate is not even about a ‘them’ but about a behaviour, like drug abuse or swearing, that ‘we’ do not consider intrinsic to anyone’s identity. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people angrily refute such assumptions, but their protests fall on deaf ears.

For LGBT Christians, the challenge to their religious and sexual identities is acute. Coming Out in Christianity examines this identity conflict and the strategies employed to help resolve it among current and former members of two Metropolitan Community Churches in California – churches that predominantly serve LGBT Christians.

Based on original research, including over seventy in-depth interviews, the book explores the life histories, current beliefs, cultural settings, and community influences, in an attempt to understand the variety of factors that affect the constructions on an integrated LGBT Christian identity.

In the course of this analysis, Melissa M. Wilcox links her findings to recent studies of religious individualism, identity construction, and ritual symbolism to show that the lives of religious LGBT people provide powerful case studies that can deepen our understanding of both religion and identity.

The Rt Revd Dr Alan Wilson is the Bishop of Buckingham, an area bishop in the Diocese of Oxford. In this clearly-written book he analyses the arguments for and against the marriage of same-gender couples in the Church and concludes unequivocally that the Church of England should accept and celebrate equal marriage.

Ideal for individual or group use, this unique resource presents short pieces from some of the USA’s most pre-eminent church leaders in 1999 – women and men, Protestant and Catholic, mainline and evangelical – who address fundamental moral imperatives about homosexuality. Through personal testimony, factual clarification, and moral suasion, they invite the reader to open his or her heart to the Spirit, to Gospel values, and to full acceptance of gay and lesbian persons in the “family of God.”

Documents the lived experiences of gay male Christian couples through extensive interview data to advance the understanding of same-sex partnerships and the debate on Christianity and homosexuality.