Mission Statement
To bear witness of the love of God in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania by ministering to the needs within our parishes to demonstrate God’s love for our LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
Become a Believe Out Loud Episcopal Congregation
Believe Out Loud is an ecumenical effort to identify LGBTQ open and affirming churches and to encourage them to be vocal and visible in their support. Within the Episcopal Church, Believe Out Loud is the official designation for a welcoming congregation that is registered with Integrity USA and has a public welcoming statement that states their inclusion of people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Is your parish welcoming of LGBTQ persons? Would you like it to be? Begin the discussion today!
Pool of Bethesda LGBT+ Taskforce
Recalling that the Pool of Bethesda was one of the locations where Jesus performed a miracle of healing, our ministry strives to heal those in the LGBTQI community who have been hurt by the church as well as those who through hardness of heart oppose the full inclusion of LGBTQI members in the body of Christ. Water also provides a very strong metaphor and reminds us to honor our Baptismal Covenant of upholding the dignity of every human being.
Contacts
Resources
Print Resources
- Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women and the Rest of Us by Kate Bornstein
- Microagressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation by Derald Wing Sue
- Defrocked: How A Father’s Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church by Franklyn Schaefer
- Bisexuality: Making the Invisible Visible in Faith Communities by Marie Alford-Harkey
- God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines
- The Church and the Homosexual by John J. McNeill
- Hounded by God, A Gay Man’s Journey to Self-Acceptance, Love, and Relationship by Joseph Gentilini
- Radical Love, An Introduction to Queer Theology by Patrick S. Cheng
- Rainbow Theology by Patrick S. Cheng
- God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage by Gene Robinson
- The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage by Mark Achtemeier