Resources

For answers about Christianity and Sexual Identity

The items listed here are by no means comprehensive, and they are listed in no particular order. This document can be shared using the link www.tate.fyi/christian-id.

If you have any suggestions for additional resources or have specific questions, email the managers listed in the footer of this page.

I hope you find the things listed here as helpful as I have!

Table of Contents

Online Resources

Books and Essays

People

Online Resources

Spiritual Friendship

• Blog for the entire Spiritual Friendship community
• Many articles written by gay Christians around the country and the world
• A starting place for anyone looking to learn, build a community, or locate the most up-to-date resources

Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender

• Run by Preston Sprinkle, has many resources for individuals, pastors, and groups
• Includes curricula for systematic exploration and study of issues surrounding Christianity and sexuality

Sexual and Gender Identity Institute

• The Sexual and Gender Identity (SGI) Institute, run by Mark Yarhouse, Olya Zaporozhets, Janet Dean, and Stephen Stratton
• Many resources:

• For pastors, family members, or friends of people struggling with sexual identity and their faith
• For individuals struggling with sexual identity and faith
• Resources include articles, workbooks, videos, books, referrals, papers, and pamphlets to answer specific questions or explore topics surrounding sexual identity

Sexual Identity Therapy: Practice framework for managing sexual identity conflicts

• Guideline for the therapeutic treatment of individuals who struggle with sexual identity, specifically as it conflicts with their deeply-held religious beliefs
• This is a good foundation for anyone attempting to counsel a person struggling with their sexual orientation and identity. It outlines what is and what is not understood by current psychology and how individuals should be treated with respect to their sexuality, identity, and faith.

The Lonely American Man

• An episode from NPR's podcast The Hidden Brain that discusses friendship and loneliness between men in the modern United States

Psychology and Christianity

• The website of Mark Yarhouse

Ron Belgau

• The blog of Ron Belgau
• Of particular interest are his writings on “The Great Debate”

Patheos - Eve Tushnet

• The blog of Eve Tushnet, a resource for the Catholic Church

Eleison

• The blog of Gregg Webb, a resource for the Eastern Orthodox Church

Jordan Monge

• The blog of Jordan Monge, a contributor to Spiritual Friendship

A Joyful Stammering

• A funny blog run by Matt Jones

Writing in the Dust

• Wesley Hill’s Tumblr

Books and Essays

Washed and Waiting, Wesley Hill (Updated and Expanded Edition)

• This is for the Christian who’s currently struggling with their sexuality and trying to glorify God in the best way they possibly can

Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church, Preston Sprinkle

• Presents the discussion between the “Affirming” and “Traditional” views of homosexuality in the church
• Ft. Wesley Hill and Stephen R. Holmes
• This book explores the most current and generally held beliefs as they relate to Christian sexuality
• This is a must read for anyone who wants to be able to speak with knowledge from any viewpoint on Christian sexuality

Spiritual Friendship, Wesley Hill

• This is for the friends, family, and church of the person struggling with their sexuality and trying to figure out how they can help
• The following are resources listed by Wesley for exploring more about Spiritual Friendship:

• Friendship: Interpreting Christian Love, Liz Carmichael

• Survey volume on Christian friendship and an exploration of its history, practice, and perception

• Becoming Friends: Worship, Justice, and the Practice of Christian Friendship, Paul Wadell

• Book that explores Christian friendship

• Friendship: An Expose, Joseph Epstein

• An overtly secular analysis of the deterioration of friendship in recent times

• The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis

• Doesn’t specifically address gay Christians, but human love and need for relationship in general (duplicated from below)

• Spiritual Friendship, Aelred of Rievaulx

• The one who started it all, but very dry

• “Friendship and Its Discontents” from A Visit to Vanity Fair: Moral Essays on the Present Age, Alan Jacobs

• About the practice of Samuel Johnson within his friendships

• The Folded Leaf, William Maxwell

• Novel following the friendship of two boys in the 1920s

• The Chosen, Chaim Potok

• Novel about the friendship of two fathers and two sons as the sons grow up

• The Promise, Chaim Potok

• Another novel about male friendships and coming of age

• Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner

• Classic novel telling the story of the friendship between two married couples

• Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship, Gail Caldwell

• A memoir of Gail’s friendship with Caroline Knapp, an intimate connection that lasted until the very end (no spoilers!)

• The Lord of the Rings, Tolkein; Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling; The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

• All books with good portrayals of same-sex friendships

• C.S. Lewis’ correspondence with Arthur Greeves
• On Friendship, Michel de Montaigne
• “If Love Were All” from Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex, and Survival, Andrew Sullivan
• “The End of Friendship” from Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant, Alan Jacobs
• The Friend, Alan Bray
• Brewster: A Novel, Mark Slouka
• Friendship, A.C. Grayling
• “Taking Judd Apatow Seriously,” Joel Stein
• Deep Secrets: Boy’s Friendship and the Crisis of Connection, Niobe Way
• Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood, William Pollock
• Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage, Stephanie Coontz
• Reading Roman Friendship, Craig A. Williams
• Creation and Covenant, Christopher Roberts (copied from below)
• Resurrection and Moral Order: An Outline for Evangelical Ethics, Oliver O’Donovan
• Marks of His Wounds: Gender Politics and Bodily Resurrection, Beth Felker Jones
• Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, Lauren F. Winner
• The Invention of Love, Tom Stoppard
• . . . And many more found in the “Essay on Sources” chapter of Washed and Waiting

Gay and Catholic, Eve Tushnet

• The raw and honest story of growing up as a gay Christian
• Amazing book, even if you aren’t Catholic
• This book has probably been the most influential book on this list for me

The Four Loves, C. S. Lewis

• Doesn’t specifically address gay Christians, but human love and need for relationship in general

Lonely Mystic: A New Portrait of Henri J.M. Nouwen, Michael Ford

• A biography of Henri Nouwen—a must-read. This intimately explores the life, loneliness, and legacy of Henri Nouwen, a prominent Christian teacher who struggled with sexuality, loneliness, and depression until the day he died.

The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom, Henri Nouwen

• The personal journal of Henri Nouwen during the most difficult period of his life: honest, raw, and full of true encouragement (the kind that doesn’t always make you feel better but does keep you going)

The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, Henri Nouwen

• Henri’s most popular book ever: it explores rejection, anger, jealousy, loneliness, and so much more along with the love, reconciliation, and forgiveness that come along with those things. Another must-read for any Christian.

Homosexuality and the Christian, Mark Yarhouse

Creation and Covenant, Christopher Roberts

People

Wesley Hill

Eve Tushnet

Mark Yarhouse

Henri Nouwen

Preston Sprinkle

Gregory Coles

Ron Belgau

St. Aelred of Rievaulx

Mike Allen

Christopher Benson

Jeremy Erickson

Matt Jones

Kyle Keating

Jordan Monge

Nick Roen

Tom Sundaram

Gregg Webb

Olya Zaporozhets

Janet Dean

Stephen Stratton