In the first half of the show we explore ways in which Christians / churches have sadly harmed people in the areas of sex and sexuality. We talk about how silence has made it hard for people to feel safe and understood; how churches have sometimes created cultures of shame; and we discuss the damaging legacy of conversion therapy.

In the second half, we push back on the claim that the pattern for sexuality laid out in the Bible is harmful, and we share our own experiences of the Christian sexual ethic as life-giving. Oh, and you can find out what we've all been enjoying on TV recently.

Resources mentioned

• Isn’t the Christian Sexual Ethic Harmful and Repressive? Andrew Bunt
• Does Living Out Support ‘Gay Cure’ or ‘Reparative Therapy’? Ed Shaw
• Washed and Waiting Wesley Hill
• What Should We Do With Gender Stereotypes? Andrew Bunt
• How Biblically Inclusive Is Your Church? The Living Out Church Audit 
• Still Time To Care Greg Johnson
• LGBT and Mental Health: What’s the Link? Andrew Bunt
• LGBTQ+ Suicide Andrew Bunt
• How Can You Live Life Without Sex? Ed Shaw

Join Ed, Andrew and Anne as they share how they discovered God's purposes for sexuality. We explore why we can trust what the Bible says on sex, what Jesus had to say and how to understand the specific mentions of homosexuality within the broader context of biblical teaching on sexuality. And prawns get a mention too.

Resources mentioned

• What Is Sexuality for? Ed Shaw
• Marriage as a Trailer
• Purposeful Sexuality Ed Shaw
• Why Do Christians Trust the Bible? Andrew Bunt
• Can Christians Trust What the Bible Says on the Topic of Sex? Andrew Bunt
• What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality? Andrew Bunt
• Aren’t We Just Picking Which Bits of the Old Testament Law Apply Today? Sam Allberry
• Evaluating the Top Biblical Affirming Arguments Andrew Bunt
• Evaluating the Top Affirming Arguments Andrew Bunt
• Strangers and Friends Michael Vasey

A trailer for the second series of the Living Out podcast where we'll be exploring the top questions on faith and sexuality.

We've finished our first Meet The Authors series, but this episode features thirteen guests giving their answers to five quickfire questions. We'll hear what advice our guests would give to their younger selves, what resources they recommend, how churches have been particularly helpful, what's been good about being same-sex attracted or being single, and top tips for deepening healthy intimacy in friendship.

Resources mentioned

• 7 Myths About Singleness Sam Allberry
• Is God Anti Gay? Sam Allberry
• Breaking the Marriage Idol Kutter Callaway
• Centerforfaith.com
• A Change of Affection Becket Cook
• Redeeming Singleness Barry Danylak
• Born Again This Way Rachel Gilson
• Jesus, Lover of My Soul Julian Hardyman
• Washed and Waiting Wesley Hill
• The Single Issue Al Hsu
• The Prodigal God Tim Keller
• Living Out Identity in Christ conference
• The Plausibility Problem Ed Shaw (Published as Same-Sex Attraction and the Church in the US)
• Single Friendly Church
• People To Be Loved Preston Sprinkle
• Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church Preston Sprinkle
• Single-Minded Kate Wharton
• Understanding Sexual Identity Mark Yarhouse

On this show we're interviewing Rachel Gilson, a leader at Cru and PhD at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She came to faith from an intellectual, non-Christian, lesbian background and is now married to a man.

We talk about her story, why she's convinced that the Bible's teaching isn't arbitary when it comes to who we can sleep with, and the fact that we can follow God's rules because we can trust God's good character. We also talk about the purpose of marriage, what it's like to be in a 'mixed-orientation' marriage, and its opportunity to reveal the good news of the gospel to the world.

Resources mentioned

• My Surprising Marriage Rachel Gilson
• Born Again This Way Rachel Gilson
• Rachel's website
• Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis

International author and speaker Preston Sprinkle joins us in this show to talk about his work in the area of transgender.

We discuss the work of the Center for Faith, Sexuality and Gender, which he heads up, and his latest book, Embodied, which is an accessible guide to the transgender conversation. He also explains intersex conditions and we unpack sex binaries and gender stereotypes.

Resources mentioned

• The Center for Faith, Sexuality and Gender
• Embodied Preston Sprinkle
• People To Be Loved Preston Sprinkle
• 5 Things Every Christian Should Know about the Transgender Conversation Preston Sprinkle
• Intersex and Transgender Identities Preston Sprinkle

Church leader and Christian Ethics tutor Andrew Goddard has a vast amount of experience having dialogue on issues of sexuality in the church. He shares the fascinating story of that engagement over the last couple of decades, the resources he's found particularly helpful, and some advice about how to have honouring and helpful discussions with those who have a different viewpoint from us.

Resources mentioned

• How Can We Have Good Discussions With Christians Who Disagree With Us on Sexuality? Andrew Goddard
• Living in Love and Faith
• True Freedom Trust
• Issues in Human Sexuality House of Bishops
• Strangers and Friends Michael Vasey
• St. Andrews Day Statement
• Bible, Gender, Sexuality James V. Brownson
• James V. Brownson, Bible, Gender, Sexuality: A Critical Engagement Andrew Goddard
• Covenant and Calling Robert Song
• A Critical Dialogue with Robert Song’s Covenant and Calling: Towards A Theology of Same-Sex Relationships (SCM, 2014) Andrew Goddard
•  Covenant and Calling: A Review Andrew Bunt 
• The Bible and Homosexual Practice Robert A. J. Gagnon
• The Moral Vision for the New Testament Richard Hays (Chapter on homosexuality)
• The Plausibility Problem Ed Shaw
• Washed and Waiting Wesley Hill
• Spiritual Friendship Wesley Hill
• People to be Loved Preston Sprinkle

In this episode we're talking with Rob Wood, an ordinand in the Church of England and formerly head of True Freedom Trust's teaching ministry. He is also co-author of the book Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Rob shares why he gave up a gay lifestyle to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and and explains what he finds compelling about the Christian narrative. His conviction is that biblical teaching on sexuality is good news for everyone and only God can bring lasting freedom from shame.

Resources mentioned

• Satisfaction Guaranteed Jonathan Berry and Rob Wood
• How Can I Find Freedom from Shame? Rob Wood

On this show we interview consultant statistician and ordained Church of England priest Peter Ould. Peter shares his rich theological journey into what it means to be human and what it means to be male, as well as what his biblical research has uncovered about the meaning behind God’s proscriptions for sexual behaviour. We look at how Peter sees a deliberate refusal to enter a same sex sexual relationship as an act of worship.

We also discuss human identity, idolatry of relationships, ways of describing sexual orientation and research into the fluidity of sexuality.

Resources mentioned

• Peter’s story
• Can Your Sexuality Change? Peter Ould
• Peter’s blog 
• Does Living Out Support ‘Gay Cure’ or ‘Reparative Therapy’? Ed Shaw
• My God is Real David Watson

Today we have vicar and New Wine leader Kate Wharton on the show talking about why she felt called by God to make a public committment to singleness.

We explore how churches can make single people feel more welcome and included at all levels of church life. Kate also gives us some wonderful wisdom about developing good friendships.

Resources mentioned

• Single-Minded Kate Wharton
• Kate's blog, Single Minded
• Why It Helped Me to Make a Public Commitment to Singleness Kate Wharton