SCRIPTURE & LGBTQ+: An Affirming View

This virtual class was hosted by Ken Wilson and features scholar-allies and pastor-allies, teaching various aspects of an LGBTQ+-affirming interpretation of Scripture.

Class Format

• Welcome by Moderator
• Personal story
• 30–40 minute Topical Content Presentation
• 20 minute Discussion (questions, comments, etc.)
• Closing Song and Prayer

As guest speakers are scheduled, the class sessions will be updated. See below for our current line up along with class notes, and links to video and audio recordings (when available—recordings for some guest speakers will be available for a limited time).

Email our administrative pastor, Diane Sonda, to be added to the class e-group for updates and Zoom links.

Class Schedule

Feb 27: A Theology of Harm Alleviation (Ken Wilson)
Presentation Notes (pdf) | Presentation Video | Presentation Audio (mp3)
Class Video | Class Audio (mp3)

Mar 27: Changing Our Mind, Revisited (David Gushee)
Presentation Outline (pdf) | Presentation Video | Presentation Audio (mp3)
Class Video | Class Audio (mp3)

Apr 24: Beyond the Gender Binary: Scripture, Science, and Intersex Experiences
(Megan DeFranza with Anunnaki Ray Marquez)—recordings no longer available

May 22: Story of a Harmful Translation: How the RSV Introduced “Homosexual”
into English Translations (Kathy Baldock)
Presentation Video | Presentation Audio (mp3) | Class Video

August 14: Bible, Gender, Sexuality (Jim Brownson)—recordings no longer available

Speaker Bios

Ken Wilson is a (recently retired) pastor emeritus of Blue Ocean Church and author of Letter to My Congregation  and co-author with Emily Swan of Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance.

Dr. David Gushee is a professional ethicist and author of Changing Our Mind and After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity with a new ethics textbook soon to be published.

Dr. Megan DeFranza is the author of Sex Difference in Christian Theology and advocate for the affirming view in Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church and Understanding Transgender Identities: Four Views.

Kathy Baldock is founder of Canyonwalker Connections, and the author of Walking the Bridgeless Canyon: Repairing the Breach between the Church and the LGBTQ Community, and upcoming Forging a Sacred Weapon: How the Bible became Anti-Gay.

Dr. James Brownson, retired Academic Dean of Western Theological Seminary, is the author of Bible, Gender, Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate on Same-Sex Relationships. Dr. Brownson presents a truer-to-Scripture reading of Genesis 2, a foundational text for understanding gender and marriage.