Spencer Burke interviews Andrew Marin about what he's learned about ministry, and about Jesus, in the center of Chicago's gay community. This is terrific stuff from TheOOZE.TV.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Andrew has written a book called Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community
I think this may be one of the biggest missional challenges of our day. How we approach it affects not only our interaction with the LGBT community, but also our credibility with postmodern straights.
I'd love to hear your thoughts. (But like we were taught in kindergarten, remember to play nice.) Spencer does a great job of elevating the issues beyond "progressive" and "conservative." Can we?
That was great!! Are you going to post part 2?
Posted by: David Ruybaid | July 07, 2009 at 01:30 AM
never mind!!! It is right in front of me!
Posted by: David Ruybaid | July 07, 2009 at 01:32 AM
David,
Heh, I can see how that caught you, since the "Continue reading" link on my home page is rather subtle. I just moved the "Part 2" heading to make it clearer — thanks!
To keep my home page from being too long, many of my posts are split into two parts: the beginning (shown on the home page) and a continuation (shown if you click to continue reading). If you subscribe to blog one another, you will see each post in its entirety in your news reader or delivered by email. If that interests you, here is more information on subscribing.
Posted by: Jon Reid | July 11, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Jon,
I finally got around to listening to these... thanks for posting. I appreciate his perspective, and it's helpful as I've taken up helping with a food pantry sponsored by a secular gay organization. It's certainly been a cross-cultural education for me!
Posted by: Maria | July 18, 2009 at 05:20 PM
Maria,
You must be having interesting experiences, and learning to encounter Jesus in unlikely people (which is just like Jesus, isn't it). I hope you get a chance to blog something about it.
Posted by: Jon Reid | July 21, 2009 at 10:06 PM
This is twice in one weekend for me; the other being an announcement I received that New Direction ministry in Canada has just released a DVD curriculum called "Bridging the Gap" and then I think the subtitle is similar to your post. As you said, the need for this is huge. I may borrow your line, "I think this may be one of the biggest missional challenges of our day;" in future.
You can find the Canadian DVD link on my blog's link collection for 7/24.
Posted by: Paul Wilkinson | July 26, 2009 at 07:25 PM
Paul, I look forward to reading your thoughts on "Bridging the Gap". And borrow away!
Posted by: Jon Reid | July 26, 2009 at 08:25 PM