Song of the Soul

The vast discrepancy between the number of lesbian clergy who are out, employed and valued and the majority who are forced to remain closeted to retain the respect they have earned is staggering in both number and implication. Denominations that officially refuse to ordain “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals” are accepting them into the ranks of the clergy by the score as long as they remain closeted. Their gifts in ministry are clearly valued and their “calls” affirmed. This fact pertains to both lesbians and gay men and although there are obviously concerns that both communities share, lesbians are in a more vulnerable position than gay men due to institutionalized male privilege. The historic association in much of Christian theology between women, sexuality, passion, emotion and sin places lesbian clergy in a particularly complex contradiction. To explore the substance of this contradiction and the new paradigms emerging out of a more embodied s