Welcome

‘Caught Between’.

What is that? What does it mean?

Over the past ten or so years, I’ve reflected on and wrestled with my religiously conservative upbringing. That’s meant clinging to some things, and letting go of plenty of others. Perhaps nowhere has that been more pronounced for me than my understanding of the relationship between LGBTQ+ identity and the church.

As I pressed into the subject, I found myself engaged in something that didn’t simply raise issues of what I thought on a philosophical or theological level. It forced me to reckon with real people, real relationships, real stories and experiences. And I felt myself ‘caught between’. Caught between the conservative faith of my upbringing and the real experiences of queer friends. Caught between what evangelicalism had taught me and the newly (to me) revealed realities I felt I could no longer ignore.

That was a very unnerving space. Lonely and vulnerable.

So, I’ve created this site for people who identify with that feeling. Of being ‘caught between’ their evangelical background and their suspicion that the conservative church’s response to LGBTQ+ issues leaves something to be desired.

As such, it will likely not surprise you that many of the resources I link to, and much of the framework I work within, are from an evangelical context.

If you don’t find evangelical frameworks for engaging these issues to be the most helpful, this may not be the resource for you (though your presence here is still welcome). White evangelicalism is certainly not the end-all be-all of interpretive lenses (I say this as an ex-evangelical who still maintains strong ties to evangelical communities).

My goal is not to create a definitive resource that offers the comprehensive final word on any issue relating to Christian faith and LGBTQ+ identity. Rather I have framed the resources and content here to speak specifically to those who find themselves ‘caught between’. Of course everyone is welcome here and welcome to participate in this conversation. But if you find that the site speaks to an audience that isn’t you, you’ll know why that may be.

I have put together a list of resources that have been helpful to me here.

And I have done my best to distill major discussion points in the conversation into a ‘Quick Bites’ resource here, (while longer reflections can be found here).

I am always open to dialogue, and will attempt to answer any good-faith question that I receive. If you wish to contact me please reach out here.