Praise for Unrepentant ... : "For open-minded religious leaders, there are nuggets of enlightenment in this ecumenical array."--Publishers Weekly "Surprisingly readable as well as informative." - San Francisco Chronicle "A significant body of knowledge." - Theology Today "Publishers' catalogues are full of books on the church's view of homosexuality; Comstock here offers gay views of the church. Given the often hostile environment, he asks why gay people stay in religious institutions. Using social scientific methods, he summarizes thirty-six surveys of gay attitudes toward religious communities, including Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, and Native American traditions. He adds data from his survey of gay people in two mainline Protestant denominations." --Religious Studies Review "Explores how each religions accepts, half-accepts, or rejects gays and lesbians and how they themselves feel about their religion. The book is also filled with personal stories of how spiritual people who discovered they are homosexual came out within their community and their congregation, and how they feel about the central figures and tenets of their belief." --Gatherings "With its succinct, accessible language and rich collection of empirical research findings on lesbigay peoples, Unrepentant, Self-Affirming Practicing, would be an excellent addition to academic libraries and could be appropriately used as well in an undergraduate religion or sociology classroom." --Journal for Scientific Study of Religion>

For many Christians, homosexuality is an issue that is often presented as a matter of "us (straight) Christians" versus "them," or worse, as an isolated behavior that is a questions of behavior somehow not an intrinsic part of the identities of gays and lesbians. Discussion of the issue has become so heated that it threatens to create a yawning chasm within several mainline denominations. This book examines this conflict from the perspective of a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Christians. It explores the life histories of these individuals and their current beliefs, cultural backgrounds, and community influences to determine what helped each forge an identity as both gay and Christian.

Moving far beyond the realm of traditional "church history," Patrick Allitt here offers a vigorous and erudite survey of the broad canvas of American religion since World War II. Identifying the major trends and telling moments within major denominations and also in less formal religious movements, he asks how these religious groups have shaped, and been shaped by, some of the most important and divisive issues and events of the last half century: the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, feminism and the sexual revolution, abortion rights, the antinuclear and environmentalist movements, and many others. Allitt argues that the boundaries between religious and political discourse have become increasingly blurred in the last fifty years. Having been divided along denominational lines in the early postwar period, religious Americans had come by the 1980s to be divided along political lines instead, as they grappled with the challenges of modernity and secularism. Partly because of this politicization, and partly because of the growing influence of Asian, Latino, and other ethnic groups, the United States is anomalous among the Western industrialized nations, as church membership and religious affiliation generally increased during this period. Religion in America Since 1945 is a masterful analysis of this dynamism and diversity and an ideal starting point for any exploration of the contemporary religious scene.

As John Wesley discovered his true spiritual identity, he experienced a strangely warmed heart. Through poignant stories and well-reasoned principles, Karen Oliveto discloses why and how spiritual renewal and a personal call to ministry emerge in the strangely warmed hearts of lesbian and gay Christians. In The United Methodist Church (and other Christian denominations), it is difficult or impossible for lesbian, gay, transsexual, and bisexual clergy or laity to become a visible and outward channel for God’s saving grace. This book traces the history of the church’s struggle with homosexuality, highlighting critical incidents in the culture and church polity which shape the church’s response. The issues are deeply rooted in the way God’s people understand scriptures, which are interpreted as a means of grace for some and as a rule-book for others. This book includes first-person narratives of LGBTQ persons faithfully serving in a denomination that denies their calls and—in some cases—their presence. These stories will show how the coming out process is deeply spiritual as one grows into an authentic, God-created and graced self. “You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.” Psalm 139:13-14 (CEB) “Our Strangely Warmed Hearts is a breath of fresh air in the study of the United Methodist struggle and intense debate regarding human sexuality. Karen Oliveto lives in faithful witness and serves people with the heart of Christian leadership."—Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church. “Karen Oliveto offers a compelling window into the steadfast faith and the resilience of the LGBTQ Christian movement in the United States. After offering an extraordinary history of the LGBTQ equality movement in our society and in The United Methodist Church, she rightly asks, 'Is there any other group that we would marginalize in this way?' I wholeheartedly recommend Karen Oliveto's new book to everyone who is affected by the debate over the sacred worth and place of LGBTQ people in our lives and churches. This book inspires hope.” —Michael J. Adee, Ph.D., Director, Global Faith and Justice Project, San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, CA “Bishop Oliveto's story mirrors the experience of many LGBTQ ministers who are serving the Body of Christ openly, and not in the shadows. The integrity, courage, and deep faith of God’s LGBTQ people who are called into ministry have enriched the church and encouraged the outsiders who were always welcome at Jesus' table.”–Andy Lang, Executive Director, Open and Affirming Coalition, United Church of Christ “I loved it! It drew me in immediately and kept me strapped in on what I knew would be a roller coaster of painful history, sprinkled triumphs, and then stories that broke my heart, gave me cheer, and brought tears to my eyes. Bishop Oliveto takes readers on a fascinating trip through LGBTQ history, and into the often contentious collision with mainstream religion…and then brings it all together through the personal stories that make our past and present come alive! I applaud Bishop Oliveto’s book and will highly recommend it to the faithful and faith curious of all religions.”–The Reverend Marian Edmonds-Allen, Executive Director, Parity "[Bishop Karen Oliveto] is sharing the love of Jesus, and meeting people where they are, no matter who they are, and no matter what they think about her. She loves them." —Kent Ingram, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In a time when organized religion is suffering an identity crisis, the author of The Last Presbyterian? examines the faith culture that shaped him and his family over the last half millennium. Filled with historical, theological, and spiritual reflections and set in the context of both old family stories and current trends, Cuthbertson's book addresses such timely issues as practicing faith within families, setting aside time for God, and the changing facets of leadership and discipleship within the Presbyterian tradition. Starting with the "Psalm-singing, Sabbath-keeping, Shorter-Catechism-memorizing" branches of Scots-American Presbyterianism, this book offers an affectionate look back, and a hopeful look ahead, to an emergent Presbyterianism coming to terms with issues such as LGBT ordination and same-gender marriage, interfaith relations, and care for the earth.

In a time when organized religion is suffering an identity crisis, the author of The Last Presbyterian? examines the faith culture that shaped him and his family over the last half millennium. Filled with historical, theological, and spiritual reflections and set in the context of both old family stories and current trends, Cuthbertson's book addresses such timely issues as practicing faith within families, setting aside time for God, and the changing facets of leadership and discipleship within the Presbyterian tradition. Starting with the "Psalm-singing, Sabbath-keeping, Shorter-Catechism-memorizing" branches of Scots-American Presbyterianism, this book offers an affectionate look back, and a hopeful look ahead, to an emergent Presbyterianism coming to terms with issues such as LGBT ordination and same-gender marriage, interfaith relations, and care for the earth.

Attorney, historian, and novelist R. W. Holmen brings a unique voice to the conversation of gay clergy in the pulpits. "Queer Clergy: A History of Gay and Lesbian Ministry in American Protestantism" provides a detailed history of the ways in which the following denominations have dealt with the issue of ordaining gay clergy: United Church of Christ; Episcopal Church; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; United Methodist Church; and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) It provides an important historical reference for continuing dialogue.