Queer people know what the tomb of Jesus feels like, because we know what the closet feels like.  As eight, or eighteen, or forty-eight year olds, we know that a hidden sexuality or gender identity is a boulder at the mouth of a cave you’re stuck in, the light just barely streaming in around the … Continue reading Spiritual Practices for Queer Christians Coming Out of the Closet →

Protests Are Not Supposed to be “Nice and Quiet”

by Elle Dowd

White people love to think of ourselves as Nice. This is especially true of a certain brand of white people, many of us middle class and hailing from the Midwest. We pat ourselves on the back with pride for being [Your State Here] Nice. Where I grew up, in a state that is about 94% … Continue reading Protests Are Not Supposed to be “Nice and Quiet” →

I Survived a Rural Evangelical Daddy Cult

by Stephanie Gail Eagleson

What’s a “daddy cult”? When progressives hear the word “patriarchy,” they might think of systemic misogyny in politics and business. When I hear that word, I think of the religious framework that kept me and my six younger siblings trapped in our own home. A “daddy cult” is a nuclear-family-sized cult designed and enforced by … Continue reading I Survived a Rural Evangelical Daddy Cult →

Anti-Asian Racism is Traumatizing Our Community

by Wendy Hsu

As an Asian woman in the mental health field, it is infuriating seeing how authorities in Atlanta have been handling this. The way they excuse the shooter by attributing things to his sex addiction, is not only inaccurate and hurting the Asian communities, but it also further stigmatizes mental illnesses. The misogyny or fetishization of … Continue reading Anti-Asian Racism is Traumatizing Our Community →

Abuse Survivors need Church Leaders to Do More than “Apologize”

by Taylor Johnson

Every time there is a new allegation of abuse in the church, I catch my breath. The problem with trauma is that it’s always there, under your skin, re-living in the experiences of others.  I do this work both as a trauma survivor and a daughter, of a pastor and of evangelicalism. I remember my … Continue reading Abuse Survivors need Church Leaders to Do More than “Apologize” →

The White Church Must Move Beyond Performative Justice

by Terence Lester

What continues to contribute to the separated black and white Church is not just the race conversation but also how each Church experiences God in their racial and social experience. For each of these churches, it’s more than race; it’s the existential experience as well.  In 2016, I held two simultaneous pastorships at the same … Continue reading The White Church Must Move Beyond Performative Justice →