Queer Theology

There seems to be so much fear out there right now and Fr. Shannon takes this episode to explore the role fear plays in our faith, our bodies, and our relationships. Reflecting on his own upbringing in a church rooted in fear (going to hell, being left behind in the rapture, and even the Y2K end times!) he considers the tension between believing that God is in control and living as though the world is constantly out to get us. Fear can shut down our nervous systems, limit our ability to imagine new possibilities, and isolate us from one another, making us easier to control and less able to challenge systems that keep us divided. Instead, Fr. Shannon invites us to notice what triggers fear in our bodies and, just as importantly, to pay attention to the moments when we experience hope, joy, connection, and possibility. 

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We queer the passage, Galatians 1:11–24 for this week’s episode. Through the lens of redemption, transformation, and trusting your own calling we reflect on past versions of faith that now feel uncomfortable or harmful, and how Paul’s story offers a powerful reminder that our past does not have to dictate our future. We also invite you to move towards a faith that better reflects the teachings of Jesus, don’t wait for permission! Sometimes, when something you need doesn’t exist, you have to create it. And when the gospel you’ve been handed no longer inspires you, you can seek a more life-giving way forward.

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It’s a special episode this week as we celebrate the launch of our brand-new book, “Reading the Bible Through Queer Eyes: Good News for LGBTQ+ People from Genesis to Revelation.” We have been doing this work for more than a decade and we’re super excited to finally see it in book form! If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know we’ve always been big proponents of storytelling, telling YOUR story, and approaching Scripture through a queer lens. In this book we explore how moving beyond defensiveness and moving toward joy, wonder, and deeper spiritual insight brings a richer understanding of Scripture. The book is available for pre-order now and releases December 1 in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. There are also some pre-order bonuses as a thank you for being part of this journey with us and for helping us share a message of queer joy, spiritual possibility, and good queer gospel with the world!

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Find out more about preorder bonuses at queertheology.com/preorder

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This week we queer Matthew 20:1–16, the familiar parable of the laborers in the vineyard, and uncover a lesson that is deeply concerned with labor, wages, economic justice, and generosity. This passage is often taught as a story about salvation and getting into heaven, but when we explore what emerges when we take Jesus’ words about workers, wages, and equality seriously, it shows again how the gospel is political. We also reflect on what it means to welcome people who join the work late, distinguish genuine participation from simply claiming allyship, and hold space for both the frustration of those who have carried the burden for a long time and the generosity of those ready to join. It’s a powerful reminder that the kingdom of heaven is here and now and we are invited to dream bigger and with more generosity where we are today. There is so much more that is possible!

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Learn more and join the Community at https://www.queertheology.com/community/

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For this episode, we queer the text from the Wisdom of Solomon. This is a deuterocanonical Jewish text that reflects on wisdom as something active, relational, and continually calling us toward growth. This is one of those passages that just seems to queer itself by inviting us to seek wisdom with the ongoing work of learning, internalizing, and living out what we discover as we seek wholeness and integration in our sexuality, gender, spirituality, relationships, and justice work. Another aspect of this text that is so vivid, is the personification of Wisdom as a woman who seeks, awakens, and invites desire.

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Learn more and join the Community at https://www.queertheology.com/community/

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We queer two powerful biblical texts—Isaiah 56 and Romans 11—to explore who gets to belong, what salvation means, and what Scripture has to say about immigrants and outsiders. We unpack the Bible’s repeated call to welcome and care for immigrants, challenge the ways anti-immigrant and white nationalist Christianity distort that message, and reflect on what it means to live out faith through activism, solidarity, organizing, and mutual aid. Together, we consider Paul’s vision of a community without insiders and outsiders and Isaiah’s declaration that God’s house is a house of prayer for all peoples. Rather than salvation as simply something that happens after death, we explore salvation as the work we do together here and now—building communities of justice, mutual care, and belonging.

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In this episode, we look at Ruth 1:1–18 and the powerful, often-overlooked queerness of Ruth and Naomi’s relationship. Rather than reading the passage primarily as a lesbian love story, we consider how Ruth’s radical commitment to Naomi challenges traditional ideas about family, loyalty, and belonging. There is a celebration of chosen family and the freedom to build deep, lifelong commitments with people whether or not those relationships are romantic or sexual. and imagines a queer vision of community where friendship, co-parenting, shared homes, work, gardens, caregiving, and end-of-life companionship can all be forms of profound love. We also consider how Ruth’s story challenges biblical ideas about who belongs among God’s people, highlighting Ruth’s choice to join Naomi’s people. What does it look like when we get to create families and communities rooted not in prescribed roles, but in chosen commitment, mutual care, and expansive love?

Ruth 1:1 – 18

During the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. A man with his wife and two sons went from Bethlehem of Judah to dwell in the territory of Moab. The name of that man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the territory of Moab and settled there.

But Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died. Then only she was left, along with her two sons. They took wives for themselves, Moabite women; the name of the first was Orpah and the name of the second was Ruth. And they lived there for about ten years.

 But both of the sons, Mahlon and Chilion, also died. Only the woman was left, without her two children and without her husband.

Then she arose along with her daughters-in-law to return from the field of Moab, because while in the territory of Moab she had heard that the Lord had paid attention to his people by providing food for them. She left the place where she had been, and her two daughters-in-law went with her. They went along the road to return to the land of Judah.

Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go, turn back, each of you to the household of your mother. May the Lord deal faithfully with you, just as you have done with the dead and with me. May the Lord provide for you so that you may find security, each woman in the household of her husband.” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

But they replied to her, “No, instead we will return with you, to your people.”

Naomi replied, “Turn back, my daughters. Why would you go with me? Will there again be sons in my womb, that they would be husbands for you? Turn back, my daughters. Go. I am too old for a husband. If I were to say that I have hope, even if I had a husband tonight, and even more, if I were to bear sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you refrain from having a husband? No, my daughters. This is more bitter for me than for you, since the Lord’s will has come out against me.”

Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and to her gods. Turn back after your sister-in-law.”

But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to abandon you, to turn back from following after you. Wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord do this to me and more so if even death separates me from you.” When Naomi saw that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped speaking to her about it.

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In this episode, we tackle the complicated question of when to stay, when to take a break, and when to leave a religious tradition. Our own journeys are very different, but there are definitely similarities. There was a point when we started questioning Christianity, stepping away from church, wrestling with doubt, and finding more expansive ways of understanding faith. Fr. Shay shares how coming to terms with his queerness, experiencing exclusion in evangelical spaces, and taking time away from church ultimately led him toward a deeper, more embodied Christian faith and ordained ministry. Brian reflects on his own gradual drift from Christianity, his return through queer activism and progressive Christian communities, and the experiences that eventually led him to convert to Judaism. We get into the difference between dabbling and committing to a spiritual tradition, the value of finding a community and story that can sustain you, and how to recognize when a faith tradition is asking you to become more fully yourself or asking you to leave. 

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Brian was recently interviewed by Brent Saccucci (@brentsaccucci) from the University of Lethbridge to talk about Queer Theology and how it differs from affirmative ministry and we’re going to share that interview with y’all! In this interview, Brian challenges the idea that queer people need to justify their existence within faith traditions and explains the difference between affirmative faith and queer theology. Always at the heart of our work is our belief that we need to move beyond debating whether queerness is “okay” and instead ask what queer perspectives can reveal about God, Scripture, sacredness, and justice. Brian shares how a radically expansive understanding of God, not as a man in the clouds, but as love, connection, awe, queer resilience, justice, and the miraculous fact that we find one another at all, is so sacred.

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Learn more about Brent and connect with him at https://www.learningwithbrent.com/

Learn more and join the Community at https://www.queertheology.com/community/

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Because we’re the QueerTheology Podcast, of course we’re going to dive into Isaiah 1:10–18. This is a familiar and powerful passage. Just the words, “Sodom and Gomorrah” evoke a reaction because of their use in evangelical Christian religion. But we invite you to challenge common assumptions about their so-called “sin.” We explore how Isaiah shifts the focus away from ritual and religious performance and toward justice for the oppressed, care for the vulnerable, and accountability for those whose faith causes harm. We reflect on what it means to reclaim a progressive Christian witness in a culture where harmful expressions of faith often dominate the public conversation, and why sharing life-giving, justice-centered theology matters now more than ever.

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