Here are the top 10 books I read in 2024 about LGBTQ inclusion in the church. There are so many helpful authors writing from all different perspectives.
Ranked in order:
1. The Widening of God’s Mercy, Christopher Hays and Richard Hays
“There is an ongoing conversation within the Bible in which rules, boundaries, and theologies are repeatedly rethought.”
Richard Hays, the renowned New Testament scholar who famously supported the traditional ethic around gay marriage, reworked his position. After detailing scripture after scripture in which God’s word gets readjusted (by God) in favor of mercy and inclusion, Hays recognizes he was wrong and endorses being fully inclusive of LGBTQ people in all aspects of church life. Such a great read!
Here are the top 10 books I read in 2024 about LGBTQ inclusion in the church. There are so many helpful authors writing from all different perspectives.
Ranked in order:
2. Does the Bible Support Same-Sex Marriage, Preston Sprinkle
“First, be willing to rethink your point of view. This is incredibly difficult—some might say risky—but it should be a no-brainer. I mean, if you’re not willing to rethink your view, why would you expect someone else to rethink theirs?”
That’s Sprinkle’s opening shot about how to have a good conversation around these questions – so thoughtful, right? He has written what I think is the single best book from the conservative perspective. It’s measured, insightful and gracious. He recognizes how we all need to learn and grow. He treats the questions with carefulness and LGBTQ with respect and love. Highly recommend!
3. Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibility of Same-Sex Relationships, Karen Keen
“These six texts are not the sticking point of the current debate. As I indicated in the previous chapter, traditionalists and progressives largely agree on why the biblical authors condemned same-sex intercourse (at least for men). The crux of the current debate is gender and anatomical complementarity.”
Keen is shockingly even-handed in talking about strengths and weaknesses of both conservatives and progressives. She cuts through the haze to show their core agreements around the ‘clobber’ passages and presses into the real issue of how to interpret scripture around the ‘why’ issues that lie behind those passages and others. A must read!
4. Four Views of Pastoring LGBTQ Teenagers, Mark Oestreicher
“After working for so long to find four writers who were clearly different from one another in both experience and theological perspective, we were a little surprised to discover… that their suggestions were less differing than we'd assumed they would be. This revealed something critical… One cannot work out her approach to ministry with LGBT teenagers apart from relationships with real LGBTQ teenagers.”
Oestreicher is a youth ministry guru who really loves LGBTQ teens. He pulls in youth ministers with different theological perspectives to weigh in – and while there are differences, it’s impressive how the practical ministry advice is essentially the same (and helpful!) from all sides.
5. American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era, Nico Lang
“My aim was to find the universal in the anecdotal and the anecdotal in the universal… I attempt to avoid flattening the complexity of their experiences.”
Lang is a journalist who spent months and months embedded in families with trans kids. If you want to understand trans issues, read this book. You’ll get to know real people and their real fears and hopes and hardships and what it looks like to be trans in our world.
6. Book: Why the Church of the Nazarene Should Be Fully LGBTQ Affirming, Thomas Jay Oord and Alexa Oord
“I am not asking that everyone (or anyone) within the church agree with me on my understanding of scripture, just that there be room in the church for those of us who are passionate about the sacredness of scripture but land in a different place in our conclusions.”
I figured this would be a litany of complaints and arguments. I was surprised. With over 90 authors, Oord has pulled together a book that expresses humanizing stories of dozens of rank-and-file church members, caring guidance by dozens of pastors and leaders, and wise insights from dozens of scholars.
7. Book: Sanctuary: Queering a Church in the Heartland, Adey Wassink, et al.
“We three—Katie, Adey, and Tom—are telling this story of the conversion of our selves and of our church from evangelicalism to inclusion because unlike many who have attempted such a feat, our church came out on the other side not just alive, but bigger, healthier, happier, and more godly.”
These authors are hilarious – which is such a nice bonus to a helpful, step-by-messy-step chronicle of how a conservative Vineyard church took a path full of mistakes and meandering to become fully affirming.
8. Book: Gay Girl Good God Jackie Hill Perry
“The only constant in this world is God. Gayness, on the other hand, can be an immovable identity only when the heart is unwilling to bow.”
Perry loves Jesus – that comes through loud and clear in this testimonial piece. I added this book because it’s a helpful read to understand the approach of those who believe that sexual orientation can change through obedience. It comes across as less thoughtful and more dogmatic.
9. Book: The Rainbow Revival Jim Conrad
Conrad is a working pastor in a conservative church in Georgia that is progressive only on the issue of LGBTQ inclusion. It’s not particularly well written, but it’s helpful to see how a little rural church went on a journey because a gay family moved into town and started worshipping with them.
10.1 Does the Bible Affirm Same-Sex Relationships, Rebecca McLaughlin
“We must take with deathly seriousness the Bible’s warnings about any sexual relationships outside of male-female marriage. These warnings are so serious that the question of whether the Bible allows for same-sex sexual relationships cannot be set aside as a secondary issue on which Christians can agree to disagree.”
McLaughlin’s book was touted by Christianity Today but simply rehashes lots of older thoughts and warnings by the traditionalist community. There was the occasional insight or helpful part, but by and large it felt fearful and reactionary. I list it because it is representative of so many books like it out there. I’d recommend the above books far more.
10.2 A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community, John Pavlovitz
“Organized religion and organized crime can be frighteningly similar at times. Both tend to rely on unwavering loyalty and on participants passionately defending their own.”
Like McLaughlin’s piece but on the progressive side, Pavlovitz rehashes a lot of older progressive thoughts and warnings from the affirming community. Yes, there were some insights and helpful pieces, but by and large I found it general and judgy. I list it because it is representative of so many books like it out there. I’d recommend the above books far more.
I hope these resources are helpful.
-Bill
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