Today, I am talking with Pieter Valk about the monastic community he is creating in Nashville called the Nashville Family of Brothers, which aims to offer family to celibate men. We talk about celibacy, its place in the church, and the importance of community as a celibate individual. 

Pieter is the Director of EQUIP, a Nashville-based team of missionary consultants who help churches become places where LGBT+ people can belong and thrive according to a traditional sexual ethic. He is also a clinical mental health counselor that serves LGBT+ students at a local Christian university. Pieter is motivated by the pain and beauty of his story and the stories of fellow gay Christians submitting their sexualities to the Lordship of Christ. Learn more about his story at equipyourcommunity.org.

The interim music comes from the song "Wonderous Love" by Murphy, D.X. Listen to them on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you listen to your music. And as always, the theme song is by Scott Holmes. 

Today, we are returning to the topic of mixed orientation marriage for one last episode this season. I am talking with Meredith, a queer black woman married to a straight white man. She is a self-identified nerd who loves science, and she is here to share about her experience faith, sexuality, as well as race issues. You will want to listen to the whole episode cause we have a fun time at the end talking about celebrity crushes and giving some "Dear Straight People" letters. You can follow on twitter @QueerXtian and you can contact her through her email, [email protected]

Today, I am joined by Seth Touchton as my cohost and we are talking with Lesli Hudson-Reynolds about their experience as a genderqueer person. We are discussing trans issues and what it looks like in Lesli's life to be Side B. Many people are nervous to approach trans issues and are unsure how to walk along side non-cisgender individuals in their life. We hope that you can approach this episode with listening ears and a humble posture. 

Lesli is currently serving as Gender Identity Ministry Director for Lead Them Home. Lesli mentors youth & adults seeking God's will in their gender identity. They are also developing a resource designed to thoughtfully engage church leadership in the gender conversation. Prior to joining the LTH team, Lesli spent 15 years on the road and in regional theatre as Production Stage Manager for numerous Broadway musicals, ballets, and plays. They still escape to NY to see shows whenever possible. If you want to get in contact with Lesli, you can contact them at [email protected].

This week, I am talking with Lisa, the wife of Dean Samuels who I interviewed in the last episode. She is sharing about her experience in mixed orientation marriage to a queer man. I love her honesty and realness like nothing else. You will totally wanna listen in to this. 

 If you want to check out the book I mentioned, it is called Redeeming Sex by Debra Hirsch. Also if you want to learn more about Dean and Lisa, you can learn more on Dean's authorship page on the Your Other Brothers blog at https://www.yourotherbrothers.com/author/dean/

Theme Music credit: "Driven to Success" by Scott Holmes

So we are trying something new called Side B Detours, where I and whoever I decide to join me just talk for 15 to 25 minutes on whatever topic or issue we want to not related to the season theme. For this first Detour, I invited Michelle Newbold back to share about her experience at Revoice since she shared about her anticipation for it in Episode 3. I also share about some things I have been reflecting on since Revoice like the question, "What keeps me Side B?"

You can follow Michelle on instagram @themichellenewbold or follow her at themichellenewbold.com. Also check out her blog post on Revoice called "Straight Girl, Gay Conference".

Today, I am talking with Dean Samuels about his experience as a queer man married to a straight woman. In recent years, heterosexual marriages which involve one or more persons with non-straight sexual orientations have come to be referred to as "mixed-orientation marriages." Dean is here sharing his experience in heterosexual marriage as a man primarily attracted to men as well as sharing advice for others navigating mixed orientation marriages or interested in pursuing one. 

Dean is a pastor at a church in the midwest, has been married for more than 5 years, is the father to a beautiful little girl, and is also a contributing author to the blog, Your Other Brothers. You can read his writings on the Your Other Brothers blog here.

Also, in case you are looking for a resource to help with mixed-orientation marriages, Dean did not mention it in the episode but he really recommends couples check out The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman. While the book does not discuss mixed orientation marriages specifically, it holds a lot of great advice and principles that have helped Dean navigate his own marriage. You can buy it on Amazon here.

Theme Music credit: "Driven to Success" by Scott Holmes

Today's episode is a little different. Josh is joined by one of his best friend, Michelle Newbold. This week, Josh is sharing a little bit about his story of navigating sexuality and faith, and Josh and Michelle are discussing what it looks like to find community and belonging among family, both biological and adopted, and friends. 

You can follow Michelle on instagram @themichellenewbold or follow her at themichellenewbold.com.

Theme Music credit: "Driven to Success" by Scott Holmes

Today, we are talking with Melinda Melone about the intentional community she is a part of in San Francisco, CA. Melinda's community is an absolute challenge for our western understanding of community. Community is about more than simply worshiping and or living in the same building. As she explains, "We are not called to simply do church but be church." She also shares about her experience arriving to living as a Side B Christian and the way her community helps her find intimacy and belonging.

Melinda is a member of the Church of the Sojourners, an intentional Christian community in San Francisco. She has spoken at gay Christian conferences such a Q Christian Fellowship, Revoice and E3, and presented workshops at children's ministry conferences such as Faith Forward and Weaving Our Gifts on how to make churches more welcoming for LGBTQ youth and families. She also serves on the QCF Side B Advisory. She is the mom of a grown son, and works as a Montessori educator and administrator. 

For the pilot episode of Life on Side B, we are talking with Meg Baatz about her experience in communal living, which is the idea of many different Christians both single and married coming together to live under one house and share life together. Meg has great stuff to share and most of all wants to show that God never meant the Christian life to be lived alone. No matter if you are straight and cisgender or LGBT+, this message is one everyone needs to hear!

The book Meg mentioned is called "All but Invisible" by Nate Collins.

Theme Music credit: "Driven to Success" by Scott Holmes