Observations on the Corporate Culture of a Gay and Lesbian Congregation

At the Intersection of Church and Gay: A Review of the Psychological Research on Gay and Lesbian Christians

“…They wrote that gay-friendly churches may welcome, either implicitly or explicitly, the participation of gays and lesbians, but such churches do not typically address the specific religious and spiritual needs inherent in the gay and lesbian community. Becoming increasingly involved in a gay-positive church, according to leaders of such churches, enables gays and lesbians to alleviate the conflict between their religious beliefs and their homosexuality while increasingly enjoying identity integration (Lukenbill, 1998;Perry, 1990;Piazza, 1994;Rodriguez & Ouellette, 1999, 2000aWhite, 1994).…”

“…Embedded in Warner's historical and analytical account of the founding and development of UFMCC from "a congregation to a denomination" (p. 81) is a detailed discussion documenting the struggle of gay men and lesbians within the church over essentialist (you are born with it) verses constructionist (you learn it) interpretations of homosexuals and homosexuality in Christian religious doctrine. Lukenbill (1998), in his study of the Metropolitan Community Church of Austin (MCCA), relied on Warner's (1995) essentialist/constructionist theoretical framework to guide his archival analysis of MCCA. Lukenbill argued that MCCA utilized an essentialist approach to forming a strong sense of one as being both gay or lesbian and Christian.…”

“…Refusing to condone the exclusion of gays and lesbians from ordained leadership positions by the national Presbyterian organization (Presbyterian Church USA), the church has aligned itself with the More Light Network, an association of Presbyterians and Presbyterian churches "whose mission is to enable the full participation of gays and lesbian people of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church" (p. 16). Utilizing many of the same mechanisms outlined in Rodriguez and Ouellette (1999) and Lukenbill (1998), the church has elected gays and lesbians to leadership roles, used inclusive language during worship services, incorporated the historical-contextual method of interpreting the Bible, and has even commissioned a set of stained glass windows to reflect the racial, gender, and sexual diversity of the congregation. Rappaport wrote, "gay and lesbian people .…”

“…This article was written in the middle of a paradigm shift as social scientists begin to consider homosexuals as spiritual and religious beings in their own right, rather than merely sexual beings needing to be compared and contrasted with religious others. This important paradigm shift, while not explicitly addressed in the literature to date, is beginning to be reflected in the recent work of social scientists conducting research in this area (i.e., Lukenbill, 1998;Mahaffy, 1996;Thumma, 1991;Yip 1996).…”

Queering Religious Texts: An Exploration of British Non-heterosexual Christians’ and Muslims’ Strategy of Constructing Sexuality-affirming Hermeneutics

“…4 In addition, some search for accepting religious enclaves and thrive in such an environment (e.g. Lukenbill, 1998;Rodriguez and Ouellette, 2000).…”