Shame-Less Lives, Grace-Full Congregations

Shame-Less Lives, Grace-Full Congregations PDF

Author: Karen A. McClintock

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2011-12-30

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1566996279

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In Shame-Less Lives, Grace-Full Congregations, author Karen McClintock invites readers to become shame-less, so they can assist others in a congregational system to find a life of joy and grace. McClintock explores shame as a theological and psychological emotion, defining it as "a feeling of unworthiness in the sight of God or significant others." While guilt says, "I made a mistake," shame says,"I am a mistake," she explains. With skilled storytelling and gentle humor, McClintock takes readers on a journey in which we learn to recognize the many forms shame takes and explore and heal the shame of our own upbringing, particularly the shame-laden messages within our own religious teachings and practices. She illustrates the ways shame-laden leaders interact with congregations and ways congregational shame influences clergy and laity within the system. She shows us how to recognize shame in the behavior of other leaders and clergy around us, to reduce shame-reinforcing theology, and to provide alternative messages of hope and healing. She also guides us in liberating others from their shame, be they friends, colleagues, or people in a congregation where we worship and serve. McClintock advises readers that eradicating shame may take a few weeks, months, years, or a lifetime. This book is not written so that we can be free of all shame. It is written so we can become shame-less by acknowledging old patterns and consciously changing them, because shame-less leaders create shame-less congregations.

Shameless

Shameless PDF

Author: Nadia Bolz-Weber

Publisher: Convergent Books

Published: 2019-01-29

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1601427603

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Raw, intimate, and timely—a no-holds-barred celebration of our bodies that flies in the face of antiquated ideas about sex and gender. “A triumph.”—Glennon Doyle • “One of the most important, life-changing books I’ve ever read.”—Rachel Held Evans, author of Searching for Sunday and Inspired Negative messages about sex come from all corners of society: from the church, from the media, from our own families. As a result, countless people have suffered pain, guilt, and judgment. In this instant bestseller, Nadia Bolz-Weber unleashes her critical eye and her vulnerable yet hopeful soul on the harmful conversations about sex that have fed our shame. Bolz-Weber offers no simple amendments or polite compromises. Instead, this modern-day reverend calls for an inclusivity that empowers us to be loyal to people and, perhaps most important, ourselves. “Christianity is not a program for avoiding mistakes,” she writes. “It is a faith of the guilty.” With an alternative understanding of Scripture passages that have been weaponized against Christians for decades, Bolz-Weber reminds us that sexual flourishing can and should be for all genders, all bodies, and all humans. She shares stories, poetry, and Scripture that wage war on perpetual anxiety around sex by celebrating sexuality in all its forms and recognizing it for the gift that it is. If you’ve been mistreated, confused, angered, and/or wounded by shaming sexual messages, this one is for you.

My Father's Closet

My Father's Closet PDF

Author: Karen A. McClintock

Publisher: Trillium

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 9780814213322

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Thirty years after her father's death, Karen McClintock sets out to find the gay father she never really knew. As we follow the unraveling family secret, we find ourselves drawn into her story as they stumble into infidelity, grieve heartbreaking losses, and remain loyal in love. Set in Columbus, Ohio, My Father's Closet tells the story of how just before the war, McClintock's parents fell in love and married, while overseas in Germany the man whom she believes became her father's lover was concealing his Jewish and gay identities in order to escape to America. A set of her father's journals, letters her parents sent to each other during the Second World War, and a mysterious painting all lead her toward the truth about her gay father. McClintock weaves a complex secret into the fabric of lives we truly care about. And in the process, she leads us out of her father's closet. This gripping memoir captures the longing children feel for a distant or hidden parent and taps into the complexity of human connection and abandonment. The characters are resilient and vibrant. The hidden lovers, the nosey neighbors, and surprise lovers all show up. In the end, this extraordinary family finds ways to connect and freedom to love. Anyone who grew up with a family secret will appreciate the dynamics afoot in this fast-paced and compelling story.

Shameless

Shameless PDF

Author: Nadia Bolz-Weber

Publisher: Canterbury Press

Published: 2019-01-30

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1786221373

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Christians are obsessed with sex. But not in a good way. For nearly two thousand years, this obsession has often turned destructive, inflicting pain, suffering, and guilt on countless people of all persuasions and backgrounds. In Shameless, Bolz-Weber calls for a reformation. To make her case, she offers experiences from her own life and stories from her parishoners alongside biblical theology to explore what the church has taught, and the harm those teachings have caused.

The Pillar and Ground of the Truth

The Pillar and Ground of the Truth PDF

Author: Pavel Florensky

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2018-06-05

Total Pages: 595

ISBN-13: 0691187991

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Pavel Florensky--certainly the greatest Russian theologian of the last century--is now recognized as one of Russia's greatest polymaths. Known as the Russian Leonardo da Vinci, he became a Russian Orthodox priest in 1911, while remaining deeply involved with the cultural, artistic, and scientific developments of his time. Arrested briefly by the Soviets in 1928, he returned to his scholarly activities until 1933, when he was sentenced to ten years of corrective labor in Siberia. There he continued his scientific work and ministered to his fellow prisoners until his death four years later. This volume is the first English translation of his rich and fascinating defense of Russian Orthodox theology. Originally published in 1914, the book is a series of twelve letters to a "brother" or "friend," who may be understood symbolically as Christ. Central to Florensky's work is an exploration of the various meanings of Christian love, which is viewed as a combination of philia (friendship) and agape (universal love). Florensky is perhaps the first modern writer to explore the so-called "same-sex unions," which, for him, are not sexual in nature. He describes the ancient Christian rites of the adelphopoiesis (brother-making), joining male friends in chaste bonds of love. In addition, Florensky is one of the first thinkers in the twentieth century to develop the idea of the Divine Sophia, who has become one of the central concerns of feminist theologians.

The Life and Acts of ... John Whitgift, D. D., the Third and Last Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth ... who ... Governed the Church of England ...; Wherein is Interwoven Much of the History of this Church ...; the Whole Digested, Compiled and Attested from Records, Registers, Original Letters, and Other Authentick MSS. Taken from the Choicest Libraries and Collections of the Kingdom

The Life and Acts of ... John Whitgift, D. D., the Third and Last Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth ... who ... Governed the Church of England ...; Wherein is Interwoven Much of the History of this Church ...; the Whole Digested, Compiled and Attested from Records, Registers, Original Letters, and Other Authentick MSS. Taken from the Choicest Libraries and Collections of the Kingdom PDF

Author: John Strype

Publisher:

Published: 1822

Total Pages: 654

ISBN-13:

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Congregations Talking about Homosexuality

Congregations Talking about Homosexuality PDF

Author: Beth Ann Gaede

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 1999-03-01

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1566994985

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Gaede skillfully weaves together the stories of many congregations and how they faced and dealt with the issue of homosexuality. A helpful resource for assisting congregations that seek to engage in dialogue about one of the most difficult faith issues today, the book does not take a theological stand, but rather draws on the experiences of others who have struggled with how to address this issue from a position of respect for all views.