Bless you, Bruce, for your compassionate, prophetic work for justice for homosexual people. I'll share this with others.
Blessings,
Rev. Dr. Jann Aldredge-Clanton, Baptist minister and hospital chaplain
Author of IN WHOSE IMAGE? GOD AND GENDER and BREAKING FREE: THE STORY OF A FEMINIST BAPTIST MINISTER
Thanks for making "A Letter to Louise" available on the internet. It is among the clearest and most reasoned presentations on the issue I have read. I wish I had known of it when I made my own attempt to address the issue in our church (http://www.ubcaustin.org/news/sex_orientation_pres.htm). I know publicizing this exposes you to abuse. But I also know you will help innumerable persons come to terms with their orientation and find grace in God. The comfort you give to parents of gay and lesbian children will make a difference in saving family relationships. The hope you give to gay and lesbian youth will even save some lives. As for those who disagree and think God cannot love homosexual persons or the church will be destroyed by them, well, they haven't met the gay and lesbian Christians in our churches, have they? If they had, they would have to recognize their homosexual brothers and sisters have God's Spirit within them, too. I believe one day soon the wider church will have to accept what the leaders of the early church who had a hard time accepting Gentiles into the faith finally confessed: "Then God has given even to gay and lesbian persons the repentance that leads to life" (see Acts 11:18). May God bless you, and thank you again for your contribution to this good journey of the Spirit!
God's peace,
Larry Bethune, University Baptist Church, Austin, Texas
Engineers and scientists often talk about the intuitive leap to the truth... that impossible to explain moment when all the bits and pieces of what you do know, suddenly gel in the human consciousness and allow you to know what you did not know before... something that is not proven by the facts at hand, but crystal clear none the less. With engineers and scientists the process does not stop with the leap. Science only starts with the leap... real science and engineering lie in the hard-nosed work of determining whether the leap is justified or not.
I have known Bruce since 1985. When I heard about his encounter with Louise, I knew he had made the leap to the truth as soon has he heard the pain in her voice. I had a similar experience when I first met the people I am now blessed to call my gay friends. What captivated me and compelled me to undertake this project was his response... Bruce went and did the hard-nosed work of determining whether the leap was justified or not and more importantly, he documented his work. That's pretty irresistible to an engineer. Bruce does not tell us what to believe. He tells us what he believes and how he got there. It's up to each of us, straight and gay, to see if we can replicate his results... to look at his data and see if we reach the same conclusions. I feel blessed by Bruce and his work and hope that you do too.
David Chapman, Baptist, Engineer (Webmaster)
Your Letter to Louise is well researched, well written, and has a potential to be a vital help to a lot of people. I pray for its success for a great many people.
Susanne Dabney, Baptist Educator
This website provides an important theological alternative to the prevailing presentations by evangelical Christians on the subject of our faith and homosexuality. It wrestles honestly and humbly with the issues, and courageously bears it witness to a minority view. And as history reminds us, often the minority view is right! I hope this site will be a forum for deep and respectful dialogue, as together we seek to be faithful to the call of Jesus.
Joe Phelps
Pastor, Highland Baptist Church
Louisville, KY
