News (Proprietary)
How Should Queer Christians Respond to Anti-Gay Violence, its Victims, and the People Who Perpetrate It?
2+ week, 4+ day ago (439+ words) When a lesbian minister is physically assaulted, the church is galvanized. And when they find out who did it, there are even fewer answers. The voices from the service after the first attack include: Rev. Troy Perry, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches " "If you come for one of us, you come for all of us." Kevin Calegari, Dignity San Francisco " "Somebody by the name of Jesus" Harry Britt, San Francisco City Supervisor " "It hurts to be reminded of the power of evil." Gayle Orr-Smith, representative of the Mayor's Office " "I am moved when I hear you say you are an angry people." Rev. Duane Wilkerson, United Methodist Church " "But in the event that doubt has crept into your mind" Rev. Troy Perry, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches " "And to the enemies who are attacking us" "The Call" is…...
The Church’s Pastor Gets Diagnosed with AIDS. And the Church Wonders How Much They Might Lose.
4+ day, 2+ hour ago (403+ words) We just kept trying to find meaning, meaning, meaning." In 1995 Rev. Jim Mitulski became HIV positive " what's known as seroconversion. It was 14 years into the epidemic and people knew what HIV/AIDS was, how you got it, and how you could prevent it. And when Jim got sick, he got very sick. What was it like to become ill so publicly? How would the church and the community respond? And what could Jim possibly preach about on his first Sunday back? My Soul Doth Magnify" is from Camille Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio, Op. 12, 1858. The 23rd Psalm (Dedicated to My Mother)" is by Bobby McFerrin. The biblical story of the death of the prophet Elijah is in Second Kings, chapter 2. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California…...
It’s a Beautiful Part of Eating That Comes Easy to Billions of People. So Why Is It So Hard for Me?
3+ day, 6+ hour ago (1502+ words) Something to consider before you take your first bite. A few months back, I was strolling along the Detroit River when I saw a man sitting on a bench pull a sandwich from a brown paper bag. It was, as far as sandwiches go, nondescript" seemingly just two pieces of white bread, probably welded together with peanut butter and jelly, pimento cheese, or a couple of slices of pale turkey with some mustard. Then, I watched the man bow his head over this unremarkable lunch. It was a brief pause, barely enough time to formally address a higher power, let alone say anything of note. But whatever his prayer, I immediately coveted this gentleman's spirit of thankfulness. We often preach the importance of gratitude to mental health in modern culture; what simpler way to practice those tenets than a quick…...
A Sermon With “Old Fashioned Homosexual Values.”
2+ week, 2+ hour ago (396+ words) Ten years into the AIDS crisis, the country starts to notice. A little bit. The Sunday after Magic Johnson announced his HIV-status, Jim Mitulski preached a sermon on being tired of people dying. We're sharing it as an interlude, a pause, and an immersion into one moment in AIDS' bleak midwinter. In the sermon Rev. Mitulski refers to ARC. That means AIDS-Related Complex, a diagnostic category meant to indicate an earlier stage of HIV infection than AIDS. It was common in the period to hear references to both AIDS and ARC. "Old Devil Time" is by Pete Seeger. The AIDS verses are by MCC San Francisco congregant Paul Francis. You can see Magic Johnson's press release, announcing his HIV status here. The biblical passage Rev. Mitulski is preaching on is John 11:1-44. Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly…...
A Church Romance Between a Hula Dancer and a Lumbersexual Blossoms in a Dangerous Time.
1+ week, 4+ day ago (388+ words) A church romance blossoms between a hula dancer and a lumbersexual. You can see Scott perform in a 1992 InterPlay piece called "God, Sex and Power" here. He's the one with the bandaids on his knees. Scott's San Francisco hula school was N" Lei Hulu I Ka W'kiu. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2025. Scott's teacher and friend, Kumu Patrick Makuak"ne is in the 2023 cohort of MacArthur Fellows. His recent work includes M"h, a work by and with trans hula performers. On the MCC in Hawai'i, see the Queer Histories of Hawai'i's story here. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor…...
“The Lord Is My Shepherd and He Knows I’m Gay”
5+ day, 8+ hour ago (256+ words) In the 1960s, the Metropolitan Community Church was one of the first gay-positive churches. When AIDS hit, it became a refuge. When the Metropolitan Community Church was founded in the late sixties, it was one of the first gay positive churches in America. When AIDS hit, it became a refuge for people who were sick and those who were mourning them. In this episode, Anna talks to researcher Lynne Gerber, about finding boxes of cassettes under the church floor in an MCC church in San Francisco, and how those recordings of sermons and songs became a podcast about finding community and comfort during a crisis. Lynne Gerber is the host of the 10-episode series When We All Get to Heaven. And if you're new to the show, welcome. We're so glad you're here. Find us and follow us on Instagram and…...
The Alarm Clock That Woke Up #DemonTok
3+ week, 3+ day ago (110+ words) The company's Halloween commercial was so spooky that it was accused of having "demonic ties." A Halloween ad gone wrong has religious users throwing out their Hatch alarm clocks. This podcast is produced by Daisy Rosario, Vic Whitley-Berry, and Kate Lindsay. Kate Lindsay is the co-host of ICYMI, Slate's podcast about internet culture. She also writes the newsletter Embedded, and her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Bustle, and GQ. Angelina Mazza is a writer living in Brooklyn by way of Montreal. Her work has appeared in Slate, Literary Hub, the Creative Independent, Paste, Longreads, the Rumpus, the Poetry Foundation, and elsewhere....
To Preach About Healing When You Know You’re Going to Die
3+ week, 4+ day ago (292+ words) A minister with AIDS grapples with what "healing" means in the face of certain death. Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Outward and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Outward show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/outwardplus for access wherever you listen. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco's archive. It was performed by MCC-SF's musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John…...