And Grace Shall Lead Me Home: Inclusion and Evangelical Conscience

"The Church We Can See from Here"-that's what we are supposed to be talking about here. I have every confidence in the ability of my colleagues to address this discussion with genuine wisdom and deep insight. For myself I confess the topic makes me nervous. The reason is this: if you had told me just eight or nine year sago that on this date I would be standing before this group, speaking out in favor of marriage and ordination for lesbian and gay Christians, I would have declared you out of your mind.

But here I am, and here you are. And all I can say is that because of this experience I have learned never to make confident predictions about any situation in which God is involved.

God has indeed led me, "through many dangers, toils and snares," to a different, and I think far more coherent, understanding of the Bible's message for lesbian and gay believers. I want to offer some testimony today about how that happened.