Spirituality & Prayer Booklist

BOISVERT: Out on Holy Ground

GLASER: Coming Out to God

GLASER: Coming out as Sacrament

GLASER: Come Home

HELMINIAK: Sex and the Sacred

O'BRIEN: Praying From the Margins

MATTMAN, Urs: Coming In

McNEILL: Sex as God Intended

BOISVERT: Out on Holy Ground

Boisvert, Donald L.

Out on Holy Ground

Meditations on Gay Men's Spirituality

(Pilgrim Press, 2001)

Catholic, Spirituality, Gay Male.

From Google Books:

"Is gay spirituality a genuine type of religious expression, or is it simply another example of identity politics? Since the onset of the AIDS epidemic that has disproportionately struck their community, gay men have published a wide range of materials, from autobiographies to theologies, that ask, What is gay spirituality as a religious expression in North America? The first book to weave together these various strands into an organized response, "Out On Holy Ground" culls information from diverse sources both within and outside religious institutions. Gay scholar Donald Boisvert presents his findings topically as theology, myths and symbols, rituals, and spiritual culture to paint a compelling portrait of gay spirituality as a serious cultural expression. "Out On Holy Ground" takes the conversation about gay spirituality to the next level so we can understand spirituality as a pivotal factor in the development of gay identity."

GLASER: Coming Out to God

Glaser, Chris

Coming Out to God

Prayers for Lesbians and Gay Men

168 Pages

Catholic, Spirituality, Prayer, Lesbian & Gay

This is a collection of prayers written from an explicitly gay perspective. I particularly liked Glaser's introduction, in which he argues that contrary to popular practice, sensuality and sensousness is deeply embedded in ancient traditions of worship:

"The prophet Miriam led women in a dance celebrating God’s deliverance of her people from Pharaoh’s armies. King David danced almost naked in the religious procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem….. The body was not originally confined in worship to sitting, standing and kneeling, as in most churches today. Worship was an invitation to dance, in celebration and in service. Worship was a bodily and sensual experience."

"Sexuality and spirituality are not opposing g forces, as is frequently supposed today. Instead, both draw people into relationship. Sexuality draws us into physical relationships: touching, hugging…… kissing and intercourse. Spirituality draws us into relationships that both incl ude and transcend bodies because it includes and transcends that which is visible……Both our sexual and spiritual powers are holy, and therefore both my be profaned. At their holiest, these powers lead to love in all its many expressions. At their most profane, they may lead to apathy or hate. The integrity of both sexual and spiritual powers is called the soul.

Christianity sanctifies both body…and spirit …clearly by its single most revolutionary theological assertion: God’s “Word became flesh” (John 1:14)

He then continues the dancing theme but creating an image of Sensuality and Spirituality as two strangers at a dance, wary of each other, trying to assert superiority before finally finding a true partnership in dance. In this partnership, Glaser argues, lies integrity.

"For most of us, our spirituality dances awkwardly with our sexuality, if at all. Because we are taught that sexuality and spirituality are opposing forces, we either allow our spirituality to intimidate or dominate our sexuality, or we ignore our spirituality to enjoy our sexuality, or we do a little bit of both. "

"Yet in Christian tradition there have been moments of insight that serve as correction to the tendency to separate sexuality and spirituality. In the late fourteenth century, Julian of Norwich wrote, “Our sensuality is grounded in Nature, in compassion, and in Grace…in our sensuality, God is… God is the means whereby our Substance and our Sensuality are kept together so as never to be apart”.

He concludes:

"So let us enjoy our spiritual as well as our sexual lovemaking and the intimacy and integrity they may afford us, for, therby, we aqre reminded hat we belong in God's world: created in God's image, called for community, and citizens of a spiritual commonwealth."

Strongly Recommended

From Google books:

"In this collection of sixty prayers . . . Chris Glaser opens new vistas to us in prayer, discipleship, and the relationship between spirituality and sexuality. . . . This book is a classic in devotional literature which one will return to again and again".--Merrill M. Follansbee, co-founder of the Sacramento chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays."

GLASER:, Chris: Come Home

Reclaiming Spirituality and Community as Gay Men & Lesbians

HarperCollins 1990

Christian, Presbyterian, Spirituality, Gay & Lesbian

Strongly recommended by Urs Mattman("Coming In"):

"Glaser is presently the most distinctive gay Chritian author in the USA. He has a splendid understanding of how a profound Christian spirituality, theology and biblical meditations can be brought together with the reality of LGB people. All his books are absolutely invaluable."

HELMINIAK: Sex and the Sacred

Helminiak, Daniel

Sex and the Sacred

Catholic, Spirituality, Lesbian & Gay

Strongly Recommended

Contents:

Foreword: Moderator Troy D Perry.

Preface & Acknowledgements

1. The spiritual Dimension of the Lesbian & Gay Experience
2. A Spiritual Lesson from the AIDS Epidemic
3. Sexuality and Spirituality: Friends, Not Foes
4. Sexual self-Acceptance and Spiritual Growth
5. Sexual Pathways to Spiritual Growth
6. Sexual Ethics Without Religion
7. The Right and Wrong of Sex, Queer and Otherwise
8. The Spiritual Crisis in Religion and Society
9. Jesus, a Model for Coming Out
10. The Trinitarian Vocation of the gay Community
11. Homosexuality in Catholic Teaching and Practice
12. Gay Marriage: A Response to the Vatican
13. Why Biblical Literalism is Not Christian
14. The Bible, Homosexuality and Christianity
15. Gay Bashing and 9/11 Terrorism: Religious Perversion

Appendix: A statement of Spirituality

JOHNSON, T: Gay Spirituality

The Role of Gay Identity in Transformiung Human Consciousness

KELLY: Seduced by Grace