The Christmas season is a good time to highlight resources for LGBT Christians and people with Christian friends and family members. The Gay Christian Network, SoulForce and the Parents Reconciling Network are a few of the online resources that were recently recommended by Alaskans.
"I wish that you guys could post a link to The Gay Christian Network. [They have] amazing YouTube videos on helping people who are gay come to terms with their spirituality," wrote Mark Allred of Alaska Native Lutheran Church in Anchorage.
Mark encourages watching all 7 videos, but he thinks the one embedded below is the most useful. Watch Gay Christian Answers, episode 4: "Aren't we designed for heterosexuality?"
Matthew Moak at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Anchorage also recommends The Gay Christian Network, along with several other resources. Of course, MCC itself is a great resource.
- What the Bible Says - and Doesn't Say - about Homosexuality (pdf) is an important resource from SoulForce, a group that "works to end the religious and political oppression of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people."
- Homosexuality And The Bible is a list of articles and websites by Christian Gays, a group that provides "the resources for any who wish to understand the ACCURATE interpretation of the Original Scriptures with regard to homosexuality."
- SisterFriends Together "is an outreach ministry of Grace Unfolding Ministries, and we exist to provide a safe and welcoming online faith community for lesbian, bisexual, questioning and transgender women." They can also be found at ChristianLesbians, their previous name.
- The Gay Christian Network is "a nonprofit ministry serving Christians who happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and those who care about them."
- Coming Out as a Transgender Person is a workbook created by MCC Transgender Ministries, which "provides opportunities for spiritual development for transgender people and their families and friends."
PRN is an organization of United Methodist parents of GLBT children. Rev. Johnathan of Church Life Alaska mentioned a new transgender resource from PRN in last week's Alaska GLBT News. The information came from Sara Boesser, who compiles the weekly LGBT News Roundup posted here on Bent Alaska.
New Resource: Our Transgender And Intersex ChildrenWhat causes a person's sexual orientation is unknown. Causes for people being transgender or intersex are not fully understood. A huge variety of factors are at work in making each individual the person that they are and there is no one reason that causes people to be transgender. It has nothing to do with anything you did or did not do, nor anything your child did or did not do.Families love their children and want what is best for them. You cannot change your child. However, you can change your response to your child. Your specific response can improve your child's health and happiness. Your consistent parenting and unconditional love does have a central and enduring influence on your child's life. Here are some parenting guidelines, shown by research, to improve the physical and mental health of LGBT children.
LGBT-friendly church groups
Most denominations have an LGBT or LGBT-friendly wing, and many of these movements have web sites with resource pages. A good list of national LGBT-friendly church groups can be found HERE. This does not imply that the local Alaska congregations are LGBT-friendly, unfortunately, but the online resources can be useful.
The Resource page on the Open and Affirming (ONA) site of the United Church of Christ (UCC) was suggested by a reader named Matt. He belonged to an ONA church before moving to Alaska, although he is not involved with the UCC in Alaska. None of the Alaska UCC's are listed as Open and Affirming on the Coalition's site, and I don't know if the local congregations are LGBT-friendly or not. But the national ONA site includes resources for gay and trans Christians.
A list of Alaska's LGBT-friendly churches and religious groups is posted HERE.
Do you know a good online LGBT-positive Christian resource that we didn't mention? Please leave the name and link in a comment below this list.
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