"So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand." - Mark 3: 23 - 25 Since I was ordained as a United Methodist pastor twenty-five years ago, the culture here in Southern California has been fundamentally transformed. While it has not been eradicated, the ancient stigma attached to homosexuality has been dramatically eroded. Discrimination against people whose gender identity is not rigidly male or female is trailing behind, but is headed in the same direction. As a consequence, people who identify as LGBTQI have experienced a growing range of freedom to live openly and honestly in more and more dimensions of their lives. This growing sense of freedom is on display in almost every United Methodist congregation in Southern California. In the churches I know and love, gay and lesbian people have served op
Life & Death, Faith & Doubt, Here & There