Other Sheep - Multicultural Ministries with Sexual Minorities

Annotated
Bibliography

on this page...

Homosex-
uality and
Churches

Homosexuality and the Churches

Marilyn Bennett Alexander & James Preston, We Were Baptized Too, Louisville,
Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1996.
Alexander and Preston underline the inconsistency of church practice. If churches baptize
gays/lesbians, then how can they deny accepting fully into the churches.

Denise Carmody & John Carmody, "Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism," in
Homosexuality and World Religions, ed. by Arlene Swidler, Valley Forge, Trinity
International Press, 1993, pp. 135-148.
One of the weakest essays in the volume written from an outsider's perspective..

Peter E. Coleman, Gay Christians: A Moral Dilemma, Philadelphia, Trinity Press
International, 1989.
Coleman provides a thorough account of the debate on homosexuality in all the churches from all
perspectives.

Peter E. Coleman, Christian Attitudes to Homosexuality, London: SPCK, 1980.
Coleman examines the biblical traditions and historical attitudes within Christianity
towards homosexuality.

Gary Comstock, "Aliens in the Promised Land?: Keynote Address for the 1986 National
Gathering of the United Church of Christ's Coalition for Lesbian/Gay Concerns," in
Homosexuality and Religion, ed. by Richard Hasbany, New York, Harrington Park Press,
pp. 133-144.
Comstock uses the story of Queen Vashti in the Book of Esther as a model for the coming out
experiences of gays/lesbians, their independence from oppressive denominations, and
for creating religious alternatives.

Gary David Comstock, Unrepentant, Self-Affirming, Practicing: Lesbian/Bisexual/Gay
People within Organized Religion, New York, Continuum, 1996.
Comstock examines lesbigays in their denominational struggles.

George DeStefano, "Gay under the Collar: The Hypocrisy of the Catholic Church", The
Advocate, # 439, Feb 4 1986, pp. 43-48.
DeStefano estimates gay priests, nuns, and brothers at 30-60% of total. In my opinion, a
bit low.

Marvin Ellison, "Homosexuality and Protestantism," in Homosexuality and World Religion,
ed. by Arlene Swidler, Valley Forge, Trinity International Press, 1993, pp. 149-179.
Ellison presents a good overview of the struggles of Protestant Christianity with
homosexuality.

Dean W. Ferm, Alternative Lifestyles Confront the Church, New York, Seabury, 1983.
Churches fail to meet the needs of people with alternative lifestyle.

Sally B. Geis & Donald E. Messer, Caught in the Crossfire: Helping Christians Debate
Homosexuality, Louisville, Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1994.
Articles by Furnish, Fuller, Nelson, Sample, Glazer, and Messer are worth reading while
such articles by Nicolosi promote Christian abuse.

Jeannine Grammick & Pat Furey (eds.), The Vatican and Homosexuality: reflections to the
"Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral care of Homosexual
Persons", New York, Crossroad, 1988.
Contains the infamous 1986 letter of Cardinal Ratzinger plus extensive commentary and
discussion by a number of lesbian, gay, closeted, and straight authors.

Jeannine Gramick (ed), Homosexuality in the Priesthood and the Religious Life, New
York, Crossroad, 1989.
Good mix of historical, theological, and personal accounts.

Jeannine Gramick & Robert Nugent (eds.), Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive
Catholic Writings on Gay and Lesbian Issues, Baltimore, Center for Homophobia
Education, 1995.
These essays challenge the Catholic hierarchy to re-examine its attitudes and practices
towards sexual differences.

Keith Hartman, Congregations in Conflict: The Battle over Homosexuality, Rutgers
University Press, 1996.
Hartman studies nine churches that were split over homosexuality and how they resolved
the tensions.

Bruce Hilton, Can Homophobia be Cured?, Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1992.
Hilton focuses on questions as what if the real sin is homophobia. What will the church
do with the growing scientific evidence that sexual orientation is neither an illness nor a
choice.

John Lischeid (ed), Christianity and Homosexuality: A Discussion of biblical and Ethical
Issues, (2nd edition), Philadelphia, The Other Side, 1990.
Anthology of positions on homosexuality and Christianity.

John J. McNeill, The Church and the Homosexual, (4th edition) Boston, Beacon Press,
1993.
The updated classic work of John McNeill. It was groundbreaking in the 1970s.

Gordon J. Melton (ed), The Churches Speak on Homosexuality: Official Statements from
Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Detroit, Gale Research, 1991.
Good compilation of official statements of churches.

Robert Nugent (ed), A Challenge to Love: Gay and Lesbian Catholics in the Church,
Crossroad, 1987.
Articles by Gregory Baum, Margaret Farely, Matthew Fox, John McNeill, Daniel Maguire, Mary Hunt
among others.

Robert Nugent & Jeannine Gramick, Building Bridges: Gay & Lesbian Reality and the
Catholic Church, Mystic, Twenty-Third Publications, 1992.
Examines the situation of the gays/lesbians and calls for compassion from the Catholic
hierarchy.

Richard Peddichord, Gay & Lesbian Rights: A Question: Sexual Ethics or Social Justice,
Kansas City, Sheed & Ward, 1996.
Peddichord takes the Catholic community to task for their attempts to deny gay/lesbian
civil rights because of sexual teaching.

Michael S. Piazza, Holy Homosexuals, Dallas, Sources of Hope Publishing, 1994.
Piazza, a UFMCC minister, speaks about coming out, the religious right, teen suicide, the Bible, and
relationships.

Craig Wesley Pilant, "The of Pastoral Thought Concerning Homosexuality in Selected
Vatican & American Documents from 1975-1986," in Homophobia and the
Judeo-Christian Tradition, ed. by Michael L. Stemmeler & J. Michael Clark, Dallas,
Monument Press, 1990, pp. 117-145.
Pilant explores the love-hate relationships that gay/lesbian Catholics have towards the
church.

W. Norman Pittenger, Gay Lifestyles : A Christian Interpretation of Homosexuality and the
Homosexual, Los Angeles, Universal Fellowship Press, 1977.
Noted process theologian speaks up for inclusion of gays and lesbians in the church.

Wayne Schow & Marybeth Raynes (ed), Peculiar People: Mormons and Same-sex
Orientation, Signature Books, 1991.
The Mormon Church views homosexuality as sin but does not counsel homosexuals to
marry people of the opposite sex. The editors bring a wide variety perspectives of clergy,
social workers, and sociologists.

Choon-Leong Seow (ed), Homosexuality and Christian Community, Louisville,
Westminster/ John Knox Press, 1996.
Not a terribly enlightened volume produced by the faculty Princeton Theological Seminary with the
essays of McClain-Taylor and Adam breaking ranks. Elements from the same
institution issued a 1993 document titled "A Princeton Declaration: Upholding the
Presbyterian Church (USA) in the Decision Not to Ordain Individuals in Homosexual
Practice."

Jeffrey S. Siker (ed), Homosexuality in the Church: Both Side of the Debate, Westminster/
John Knox Press, 1994.
Articles by Furnish, McNeill, Nelson, Burr, Mollenkott, Glazer, and Siker are worth
reading; the oppositional articles are the same old arguments to justify social hatred.

Richard A. W. Sipes, Secret World: Sexuality & the Search for Celibacy, Brunner Mayer
Publishers, 1990.
Sipes conducts a study of Roman Catholic clergy and celibacy. He seems to vastly
underestimate the number of gay priests, a difficult number to ascertain with coerced
closetness.

John Shelby Spong, Living in Sin: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality,
Harper SanFrancisco, 1990.
Spong explores a number of issues on human sexuality, including the possibility for the
church to receive gays/lesbians into the community and bless their committed
relationships.

Scott Thumma, "Negotiating a Religious Identity: The Case of the Gay Evangelical",
Sociological Analysis Winter 1991, vol. 52, # 4, pp. 333-347.
Thumma examines how persons reconstruct their gay Evangelical religious identities.

Michael Vasey, Evangelical Christians and Gay Rights, Bramcote, Grove Books, 1991.
Vasey points out how difficult it is for literalist evangelical Christians to accept the Bible
and gays/lesbians. He encourages them to rethink in order to accept gays/lesbians