All Resources
18. What Does it Take for Pastors to Preach About Human Sexuality?
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17. Youth Ministry with LGBTQ+/SSA Students
What does it look like for youth ministries to stay rooted in historic Christian sexual ethics while also making space for LGBTQ+/SSA students to have meaningful encounters with Jesus? Two seasoned youth pastors offer a detailed response to this question by exploring many of the concrete scenarios that come up in youth ministry, including constructing small groups, navigating sleeping spaces, and responding to a student’s coming out.
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16. Understanding Celibate Partnerships and Committed Friendships
What are some of the creative ways celibate Christians—especially celibate LGBTQ+ and same-sex attracted Christians—have established family and fostered intimacy together? This paper explores the experiences of sixteen interviewees in celibate partnerships or other forms of non-marital committed friendship, outlining both the common themes of these relationships and their many differences.
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15. Challenges Faced by Christian Parents of LGBTQ+/SSA Children
This research report discusses the major findings from our Summer 2021 survey of 519 parents. In it, we summarize key data, analyze the meanings behind the numbers, and evaluate the implications and limitations of the study.
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14. Guidance for Churches on Membership, Baptism, Communion, Service, and Leadership for Trans* People
This paper is a guide to help church leaders think clearly, consistently, and biblically about policies regarding membership, baptism, communion (or Eucharist), service, and leadership for trans* people. Trans* people are created in God’s image, and they share many things in common with non-trans* people. However, trans* people also go through unique life experiences and wrestle with questions others don’t. This paper seeks to offer guidance to pastors and church leaders as they navigate these questions.
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13. The Bible, Polyamory, and Monogamy
What do you say when someone asks, “Is your church accepting of poly people? Does the Bible really say that marriage is between one man and one woman? What about all the marriages in the OT that didn’t follow this paradigm? If God accommodated to polygamous relationships in the OT, can we accommodate to polyamorous relationships today? Why, or why not?” The following pastoral paper by Dr. Branson Parler addresses these questions and more.
12. A Biblical Conversation About Transgender Identities
This paper seeks to understand what the Bible says about the human identities of male and female as they relate to questions about transgender (and non-binary) identities. The focus of this paper is on what the Bible says and doesn’t say, while interacting with the most salient trans-affirming biblical arguements. It concludes by offering some brief responses to some of the most pressing pastoral/ethical questions facing Christian leaders in the church.
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11. What Pronouns Should Christians Use For Transgender People?
As Christians, what pronouns should we use when we speak about transgender people? In this paper, Gregory Coles argues that the most biblical response to this question is a posture of pronoun hospitality: the view that all Christians can and should use pronouns that reflect the expressed gender identities of transgender people, regardless of our views about gender identity ethics.
10. A Christian Survey of Sex Reassignment Surgery and Hormone Therapy
This paper offers an introductory survey of psychological research on sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy, as well as other approaches to managing gender identity conflict. Our focus here is not on expounding biblical approaches to sex and gender; rather, we want to provide accessible psychological data that will equip Christian leaders to respond to gender identity questions with wisdom, clarity, and compassion.
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09. Guidance for Churches on Membership, Baptism, Communion, Leadership and Service for Gay and Lesbian People
“I’m gay; can I join your church?” At face value, this is a simple question. But there’s actually a world of complexity in defining the terms: what do we mean by gay, and what do we mean by join? How we define join will shape our approach to membership, baptism, leadership, and communion, and how we define gay will shape its impact for the people we’re talking about. In this paper, Pastor Joshua Ryan Butler addresses these topics and offers guidance for Pastors and church leaders seeking to follow Jesus’ example of radical embrace and radical obedience.
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