Proclaimer Blog
Same sex attraction: further resources for pastors
Our afternoon seminar option on same sex attraction was carefully planned and very well received. We'll have the audio up soon. Meanwhile here is some follow up material from Ed :
Want a good short introduction to the whole issue?
Then hot off the press there is Sam Allberry’s excellent Is God Anti-Gay? from the Good Book Company.
Want to understand what it feels like to be a Christian man who experiences same-sex attraction?
Wesley Hill’s Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality beautifully and honestly provides one man’s account. I have yet to find another book that so effectively and encouragingly encapsulates the experience of same-sex attraction.
Want to understand what if feels like to be a Christian woman who experiences same-sex-attraction?
Alex Tylee’s Walking with Gay Friends: A journey of informed compassion shares her story and provides much practical help for those seeking to encourage people like her.
Want to thoroughly investigate the Bible passages?
The place to go is Robert Gagnon’s The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. It will cost you but it will be worth it for its exhaustive coverage of the relevant passages.
Want some input from a heavyweight Christian ethicist?
Richard Hay’s The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics. I can’t recommend the chapter on homosexuality more highly.
Want something to help a teenager begin to think through these issues?
Scott Petty’s Sex (in the Good Company’s Little black Books series) would be the first place to go.
Want to think about the whole issue of sexual identity from a refreshing perspective?
Then Jenell Williams Paris’ The End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex is Too Important to Define Who We Are will not fail to get you thinking in really helpful ways.
Want to clarify your church/ organisation’s position on the whole issue of homosexuality?
The Evangelical Alliance have given you a head start in their Biblical and pastoral responses to homosexuality (Edited by Andrew Goddard and Don Horrocks).
Want to begin to get your head around the secular Gay community and where they’re coming from?
Andrew Sullivan’s Love Undetectable: reflections on friendship, sex and survival will help you feel the power of their thinking and feelings.