Life on Side B

Today, Grant and Josh are talking with Pieter Valk from EQUIP about his talk at Revoice20 this year on theology during the Pastors and Leaders Seminar of the conference. We talk about different feedback he has gotten from his talk and how we can approach theology on sexuality that helps LGBT+ Christians to thrive in our churches. If you haven't listened to Pieter's talk at Revoice and you are listening on the day this publishes, go to revoice.us and sign up to listen today because starting September 1st it will no longer be available. 

If you would like to communicate with Pieter, you can do so by emailing him at [email protected].

To register for the B Chats event on November 14th, go to www.lifeonsideb.com and follow the popup that appears on your screen.

On August 6th, we held the first LIVE episode of the podcast over zoom with some old friends and new ones. We were joined by Meredith and Bridget as well as Darren Calhoun and Sarah Abbey, who are on the podcast for their first time. They came on to answer questions from a live audience and it was a very rich discussion. It was so good that we had to separate the conversation into two episodes. 

A Note From Bridget: "In talking about colorism, I was trying to communicate the ways in which race gets erased from the conversation in many Latin American countries and how colorism plays into that equation, favoring lighter skin tones to darker. My wording wasn't the best, however, and runs the risk of communicating that Black and Indigenous people don't exist in Latin America. To clarify, Black and Indigenous people exist up and down Latin America! Their existence and experiences often get erased, however, and colorism often plays into that reality."

Here is the link to the twitter thread mentioned by Sarah: https://twitter.com/thearmchaircom/status/1048060815780323330?s=12 

On August 6th, we held the first LIVE episode of the podcast over zoom with some old friends and new ones. We were joined by Meredith and Bridget as well as Darren Calhoun and Sarah Abbey, who are on the podcast for their first time. They came on to answer questions from a live audience and it was a very rich discussion. It was so good that we had to separate the conversation into two episodes. 

A Note From Bridget: "In talking about colorism, I was trying to communicate the ways in which race gets erased from the conversation in many Latin American countries and how colorism plays into that equation, favoring lighter skin tones to darker. My wording wasn't the best, however, and runs the risk of communicating that Black and Indigenous people don't exist in Latin America. To clarify, Black and Indigenous people exist up and down Latin America! Their existence and experiences often get erased, however, and colorism often plays into that reality."

Here is the link to the twitter thread mentioned by Sarah: https://twitter.com/thearmchaircom/status/1048060815780323330?s=12 

This week, we are continuing the conversation on race and justice. We are joined by both familiar voices and new voices. Meg Baatz, Ray Low, and Ed Guzman are back again and we are also joined for the first time by Paul Anthony Turner. Each of them bring important perspectives. 

The podcast is back early with new episodes. Over the past few months we have witnessed the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd and the events that followed. These events have elevated a much needed conversation about race and justice in the United States. It is important that we enter this conversation and the issue of intersectionality as LGBT+ Christians in the church. We are going to spend the next three episodes discussing race, church, culture and especially the experience of Side B LGBT, same sex attracted Christians within this reality. These episodes are not about discussing whether racism is real. They are about the experience of our brothers and sisters of color within that reality and the part each of us play in it whether willingly or unwillingly. Today, Henry is beginning these conversations with a discussion with Art Pereira. These conversations will be raw and honest but they are necessary.

This is the last episode before our summer break. Ashley is talking with Art Pereira on mentorship. Art is a youth pastor at a church in the northeast of the US and has an amazing story of how mentorship has impacted his life. In this episode, Ashley and Art explore the importance of mentorship in our lives, what we have to offer as mentors, and how we can honor the wisdom of LGBT+ and same sex attracted Christians who have been on this journey longer than us. There are so many great points in this episode. We will be back with more episodes in August. If you feel you can't wait till then, we will still be posting one "Other Side of the Episode" episode on our patreon page. Join by going to parteon.com/lifeonsideb

Many of you have asked us to talk about it...and we have listened. Bekah is going to be talking with Joel Jones about sex and pornography. Joel is a same sex attracted man in a mixed orientation marriage and him and Bekah will be discussing how to deal with our sex drives when living according to our convictions as man and women, married and celibate. Nothing is off the table in this conversation and we are sure this is only the beginning of many conversations to come on the topic. 

Music:

Theme Song: Driven to Success by Scott Holmes

In today's episode, Bekah is interviewing Henry on his experience of loneliness as a celibate gay man. Their discussion is amazing and very insightful on how not to simply avoid loneliness but lean into and learn from it. We hope you all enjoy it!

Michelle is back! She is joining Josh, Grant, and Mary as they discuss different things many LGBT+ Christians especially those with a Side B view hear a lot from straight people. We asked a bunch of Side B LGBT+ Christians in multiple platforms to give us their weirdest and most interesting questions and critiques they have received. So much of what we received was gold. We are discussing what we received along with our own thoughts. Plus, Michelle brought some of her own questions she wanted to ask as a straight person. This is both a funny and enlightening episode that you won't want to miss. 

Here is the link to the Canadian study on gay male speech which Josh referenced in the episode: https://web.archive.org/web/20071101043238/http://www.newsandevents.utoronto.ca/bin2/020218c.asp

This week, Ashley, Grant, and Josh are talking about shame about being LGBT+ and sexual history. Shame is something we all deal with as humans going all the way back to the garden. So how do we confront it and deal with it? This is a very vulnerable episode for all of us and we are really excited to share it with you all.     

Here are the links to the books and resources mentioned in the episode:

• The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs - https://www.amazon.com/Velvet-Rage-Overcoming-Growing-Straight/dp/0738215678/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586754287&sr=8-1