Adapted from a Trinity School for Ministry announcement
Trinity School for Ministry will host a conference on “Christian Faith and Same-Sex Attraction” October 10-11.
“At this conference we want to explore what a life of love and faithfulness looks like for a Christian who is gay or lesbian,” said Wesley Hill, assistant professor of biblical studies at Trinity and author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (Zondervan, 2010). “We want to look not just at what gay or lesbian people are supposed to say ‘no’ to but what they are called to pursue, to value, and to nurture.”
Topics and speakers include:
- “Understanding Sexual Identity” (Mark Yarhouse)
- “Beyond the Culture Wars: Listening to LGBTQ People in the Parish Today” (Melinda Selmys)
- “Ministering to LGBTQ Youth” (Yarhouse)
- “Celibacy in the Time Between the Times” (Hill)
- “Transgender Questions and Christian Theology” (Selmys)
- “Sacrifice and Sublimation: Understanding Same-Sex Desire” (Eve Tushnet)
- “Spiritual Friendship: Celibacy as a Call to Love” (Hill)
- “Ministering to Parents of LGBTQ Children” (Yarhouse)
- “Christian Marriage According to St. Paul: Reading Romans 1 in Context” (Hill)
- “What is a ‘Mixed-Orientation Marriage’?” (Selmys)
- “Discipleship is a Journey, Not a Destination” (Tushnet)
The conference concludes with a panel discussion by the plenary speakers.
The historic biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality affirms that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, requiring fidelity and chastity, while the chaste single state is equally honored and celebrated. Such teaching requires sacrifice and discipline on the part of gay Christians (as it does for all Christians), but it also affirms the blessings and opportunities that gay people bring to the life of faith. “Christian Faith and Same-Sex Attraction” will provide a forum in which to examine these questions for the sake of Christian witness in our world today.
