Category: Scholarly Perspectives
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Kara Hudson’s Testimony at Oord Trial
On July 25, 2024, Thomas Jay Oord was tried by the Church of the Nazarene for his views on LGBTQ+ matters. As part of his defense, he asked several people to testify on his behalf. Some could do so in person, others joined by Zoom. For a portion of Oord’s own defense, see his book My…
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Craig Keen’s Testimony at Oord’s Trial
On July 25, 2024, Thomas Jay Oord was tried by the Church of the Nazarene for his views on LGBTQ+ matters. As part of his defense, he asked several people to testify on his behalf. Some could do so in person, others joined by Zoom. For a portion of Oord’s own defense, see his book…
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Nazarene Clergy Respond to Queer People
Reginald Watson did his doctoral dissertation on Nazarene clergy responses to homosexuality and interactions with queer people. And his work has now been published. Watson works from the previous Church of the Nazarene Manual, which claims that homosexuality is a perversion of human sexuality. He notes that the denomination and many of its members have…
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True Colors
Humans are created to love one another through covenantal relationships that defy tradition, legal definitions, and unify all people in Christ Jesus.
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On the Biological Sexual Spectrum
LGBTQ+ people are born, not made. Trying to change them is hurtful and harmful. Offer charity instead of therapy. Embrace, don’t disgrace.
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Created in the Image of God: A Polemic Against Today’s Crusade
This current crusade against LGBTQIA+ people is killing our children and it is time to put our bodies on the line.
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Sometimes What You Say Gets in the Way of What You Mean
The cultural message of the Nazarene Church’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues undermines God’s mandate to love the vulnerable.
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Holiness is Queer
A holy church is not marked by moral perfection and exclusion but by vulnerability and an openness to God’s unpredictable grace.
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God’s Creative Diversity
There are far more people in the world who don’t fit perfectly into the categories of “male” and “female” than there are members of the Church of the Nazarene.
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The Queerness of the Holy
The question of inclusion has it backwards: the Church of the Nazarene is being invited to join the Kingdom of God, which resides in the margins, where holiness abides, among the poor, with the oppressed, as queer. Everywhere else is not the church.