Partner Spotlight: EQUIP
The following blog is written by Pieter Valk. Pieter is a member of our Collaborative Team, and is the executive director of EQUIP, a Nashville based organization that helps the church to love sexual minorities. We at EQUIP are a team of missionary consultants sent to equip the Church with the understanding and skills to better love […]
Let’s talk about MOMs
The following blog is written by Pieter Valk. Pieter is the executive director of Equip, which is a Nashville based organization that helps the church to love sexual minorities. Not the person who birthed you. M.O.M.s = mixed orientation marriages, an opposite-sex marriage where at least one of the individuals experiences same-sex attraction (SSA). Most people […]
Jesus is Strategic
The following blog is written by Pieter Valk. Pieter is the executive director of Equip, which is a Nashville based organization that helps the church to love sexual minorities. If someone new to the Bible flipped through the gospels and paid attention to Christ’s reactions to people, one might accuse him of being inconsistent—particularly when he responds […]
How should Christians Respond to Sex Reassignment Surgery and Hormone Therapy?
Dr. Mark Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky are on the Collaborative Team for The Center. Learn more about each of our team members by clicking here. How should Christians respond to sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy? There is no shortage of people weighing in on this question. Far too often, however, the answers we give […]
The High Cost of Low-Cost Weddings
*The following blog is written by Dr. Branson Parler. Branson is an ordained pastor in the Reformed Church of America and a professor of Theological Studies at Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, MI. In my previous blog post, I posed the question: how does our practice of weddings help or hinder a focus on the biblical meaning […]
Guidance for Churches on Membership, Baptism, Communion, Leadership, and Service for Gay and Lesbian People
Joshua Ryan Butler is on the Collaborative Team for The Center and serves as Pastor of Local and Global Outreach at Imago Dei Community in Portland, OR. You can read his whole bio by clicking here. Can I Belong? There is perhaps no question more central to the human heart than this: Can I […]
What Our Weddings Say about Marriage
The following blog is written by Dr. Branson Parler. Branson is an ordained elder in the Reformed Church of America and a professor of Theological Studies at Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, MI. When you think of the word “wedding” or “marriage,” what do you think of? Words are tricky. They can mean a variety […]
Should Christians Attend a Same-Sex Wedding Ceremony?
Should Christians attend a same-sex wedding ceremony? This is one of the most common questions that pastors and leaders are being asked. And, to lay my cards out upfront, I don’t think there is one clear black-and-white-answer to this question—even for those who uphold a traditional view of marriage. To be clear, everything […]
A Christian Perspective on Parenting a Gay Child
For a decade now, Christian parents have been asking my wife and me for help in parenting their gay kids. As a Christian dad of a gay son, I wish there had been someone to talk me through the issues raised by my son’s disclosure of his sexuality. But the evangelical church has until […]
Why Didn’t Jesus Mention Homosexuality?
Jesus never explicitly mentioned homosexuality in the four gospels of the New Testament. He talked about fornication, adultery, lust, marriage, divorce, and other aspects of sexuality. But he never mentioned same-sex sexual relations. Some say Jesus would have affirmed same-sex sexual relations. Since he didn’t mention them, they reason, and since Jesus was focused […]