A Day at the Movies

Life is interesting. Indeed, it can be something of an adventure. Earlier I posted a review of Dan Karslake's documentary For the Bible Tells Me So. I wrote the review based on a screener DVD. Today, I watched it again, this time in the company of a standing room only audience at the Santa Barbara LBGTQ Film Festival -- Outrageous/07.

It is different, watching a film with a group, to hear their reactions, from laughter, to applause, to moans. I can say that the film was well received. After the movie, the panel gathered to speak. I was one of the panelists, joining the director (Karslake), one of the executive producers (Robin Voss), a participant in the documentary and an inspiration for it (Rev. Steve Kindle), and two other clergy -- one a Lesbian UCC pastor (Rev. Betty Sue Sherrod), and the other a gay Episcopal priest (Rev. Mark Asman). Each of us shared our reactions to the film and also our own experiences with the issue of homosexuality and the Bible.

One of the reasons I like this film so much is that it deals with the most important issue of all -- relationships. I can say very clearly that my own understandings have been shaped by experience. I'm a proud graduate of a leading evangelical seminary. I learned there to read the Bible critically but faithfully, to ask questions and yet to hold it sacred. I take it very seriously, but not always literally. I learned that context was important. That is my formation -- but it was a formation that at minimum left my inherited views of homosexuality unchanged.

What changed my understandings was the experience of having my brother come out. I've shared this before, of course, but it is the heart of my own experience and also of the five families profiled in the film. Each has their own story, a story that at points is joyous and also at times tragic. Not everyone is at the same place, some are still struggling with this. There is honesty expressed here, that needs to be heard. Thus, while the texts are dealt with, it's not the conversation about the texts that carries the movie, it is the real life stories of families.

In the Q&A afterwards, the question was raised about what the churches have to say to gays and lesbians who have been shut out by the church and by families influenced by the church. My gay and lesbian colleagues offered possible safe places to worship -- I appreciate that invitation. What I offered was an apology to all who had experienced exclusion in the name of Christ. I asked for forgiveness and patience at our caution. Afterward, in the lobby, a woman came up to me and thanked me for my apology -- it was the first she had ever heard. I was grateful for that word of affirmation, but I also realize that there is much work to be done.

The good news is that there is a tool for us to use to start the conversation -- it is a movie!

Finally, I am grateful to have had a chance to share in this event -- to share my story.