In light of the current crisis in the Church of England surrounding marriage equality, non-heterosexual clergy, and the rise of “secular politics”, this session looks to Queer Theology and asks if a queer reading of the New Testament is valid and appropriate, or if such an interpretation is unhelpful and distorting. Does the life of Jesus and his teaching necessitate an inclusive Church, or does the Bible have a clear message that cannot support LGBT rights or the rise of “modern culture”? This session seeks to discuss what Queer Christianity would look like and how a queer reading of the Bible would alter the Christian faith or re-shape the Church.

These are some of the questions and issues we hope to address in looking at two essays (which you can download from our Reading Material section):

1. Robert E. Goss’s queer reading of the Gospel of Luke, ‘Luke’ from The Queer Bible Commentary ed. by Deryn Guest et al (London: SCM, 2006)
2. Jonathan Roberts and Christopher Rowland’s essay: ‘ ’Christian’ responses to same-sex relationships’ from The Bible for Sinners by Christopher Rowland and Jonathan Roberts (London: SPCK, 2008) Pages 1 -12 provide a helpful introduction you may like to read.

(Do look at the Gospel of Luke Chapters 6 and 7 if you have time.)

This session will be chaired by Sophie Rudland

All ideas, thoughts and views are welcome on these texts! Please come along!