Jeff Ford Finds His True Self After 14 Years of Ex-Gay Therapy
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Release Date: 01/17/2018
BEST OF BE THE BRIDGE: Nick Manchester
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Nick Manchester is an intersex chimera who's transgender, non-binary, gay and asexual. Doctors forced his parents to decide to raise him as a girl, but he never felt comfortable in that assigned gender. After a couple of failed suicide attempts, Nick realized that he needed to live as a man. He's been banned from churches and called a "child of demons," but Nick has finally found a faith community who support him and love him and accept him.
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Southern Baptist Preacher Scott McQueen Talks About His Son's First Date with a Boy
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
For thirty-one years Scott McQueen was a Southern Baptist preacher. But on April 8, 2014, when his youngest son came out to him as gay, Scott's life and his spiritual journey changed forever.
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Daniel Helmeniak Explains the Biblical Terms Abomination and Unnatural
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Homosexuality may be an "abomination" and "unnatural", but those terms don't mean what you think they do.
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Susan Cottrell on Why You Can't Both Love the Sinner and Hate the Sin
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Susan Cottrell is a prominent voice for faith parents of LGBTQIA+ kids. We chat about our least favorite expression: Love the sinner. Hate the sin.
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Why the Bible is NOT inerrant with Robert Cottrell
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
The Bible contains inconsistencies so why do some people claim the Bible is inerrant? I speak with Robert Cottrell about the flawed concept of "Biblical inerrancy." No one takes the Bible literally. Some people just cherry pick verses they want to believe, exclude the rest and call their individualized faith an "inerrant view of the Bible." We talk about the Bible is used as a sword to attack the LGBTQIA+ community and how the Bible can be used as a shield against such attacks.
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Mikah Meyer on Breaking a World Record and Changing Lives
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Mikah Meyer just finished visiting his 308th park on his world-record trip to be the youngest person to visit all 417 U.S. National Parks. As a kid, Mikah prayed to be ordinary (straight) but after he embraced his sexuality, he realized that he could become extraordinary. THE BIG SURPRISE - Christians around the country are supporting his mission.
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Dr. Paula Trimble-Familetti Questions Teachings about Biblical Women:
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Dr. Paula Trimble-Familetti is a passionate advocate for women's rights, inclusive language and biblical literacy. She holds a B.A. in Religion from Chapman University, an M.A. in Religion from Liberty University and a Dr. of Ministry in International Feminist Theology from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
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Ibrahim Kamara on Reconciling His Queer and Muslim Identities
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Ibrahim Kumara was born in Kuwait but moved to Tennessee as a kid. He was raised Muslim. At the age of 13, he\ tried to pray away the gay, even bargaining with Allah. Ibrahim wanted to spend Paradise in his own Versailles-like palace. Eventually, he realized that he had to live an authentic life. He has a passion for helping others understand that we are all intersectional beings, and those diverse aspects make us who we are.
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Chelsey Glassco Discusses Her Abusive Relationship with Christianity
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Chelsey Glassco is a teacher and therapeutic foster parent. As a kid, she attended "Jesus Camp" and was taught that homosexuality was the worst sin. When she came out to her parents at 16, she was forced into conversion therapy. But armed with her Xena journal, Chelsey was able to survive. Her tale of the mental and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of so-called "Christians" should be a wakeup call for the faithful. This podcast serves as a story of do's and don'ts for today's church.
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Mais Al-Nima on Queer Muslim identity
Be the Bridge: Connecting the LGBTQIA+ Community and People of Faith
Mais Al-Nima was born in Baghdad, Iraq and spent her childhood there. Then she lived in Syria and Kuwait before coming to the United States for school. She grew up as a practicing Muslim, but when she came out as queer, she put aside her faith.
info_outlineFor twenty-four years, Jeff Ford was married to a woman, and they have three beautiful daughters. But along the way, Jeff had a secret. He was attracted to guys. Jeff's conservative faith and love for his family motivated him to find a cure for his same-sex attractions. He spent fourteen years in church counseling and countless gay conversion therapy programs, but nothing changed his attractions.
He could not pray away the gay.
Jeff's marriage and his family suffered because he could not live a life of integrity, and he considered divorce in 2005 and 2009. He had faithfully pursued Christian counseling and gay conversion for many years but watched most members continue to struggle with no change in their sexual orientation. He loyally followed Exodus International for years and watched their organization implode in 2013 when their leaders apologized for the work they did and finally admitted they could not change people’s sexual orientation. With prayer, Bible study, and a long history with others in gay conversion therapy, Jeff finally realized he needed to live his own truth; the truth that God designed for his life. He divorced in 2016, still unsure whether the Scriptures required him to be celibate or whether he could be in a relationship with a man, but he knew that he could not continue to live a lie.
Jeff's spiritual journey has taken him to the place where he finally understood his relationship with God would never be what it needed to be so long as he continued to believe he was hated and condemned by God. Today, he has come to realize that God deeply loves him and everyone in the LGBT+ community. Jeff finally knows and celebrates he is divinely created as someone special with unique characteristics and gifts to give to the world, his family, friends, and the community. And his faith has never been stronger.