An Invitation to Discipleship in the Sheets

Dear church,

This is an invitation to join us for our Discipleship in the Sheets Class that starts Sunday October 12 at 9am. First: what this class is (and isn’t), second: commitments we’re asking all who attend to make to each other, and third: an outline and schedule for the class.

First, we’ve designed this class to accomplish the following: 

1. To talk about sex and gender together as a church from a Christian perspective
2. To address teaching some of us have heard in the past, assessing its faithfulness and the work it’s done in the church
3. To articulate a faithful Christian theology and ethic of LGBTQ+ inclusion
4. To create a safe space to ask questions, explore, learn, grow, and wrestle with the deep mysteries of these things
5. To cast vision for a faithful and liveable Christian sexual ethic for our world today
6. To keep space open for all to own your own convictions without debate or indoctrination, but be open to listening to one another, learning and growing through our time together

Second, any discussion of sex and gender will bring vulnerabilities to the surface. That’s true for all of us, and in a culture shaped by patriarchy, that’s especially true for women and gender minorities among us. So we welcome questions and disagreements, but in order to honor all our vulnerabilities, we aren’t interested in debating those things that pertain to people’s personal experience. In other words: gay and trans people exist in the church whether we hold the same convictions or not. So we want them and all of us to feel safe and be present fully in our class.

To accomplish this we invite all who participate in the Discipleship in the Sheets class to commit to the following four agreements:

1. We assume the best of one another (everyone is here to learn and grow together). 
2. We practice revelatory speech (we use “I” statements to take responsibility for our perspectives, feelings, and questions, rather than speaking for others or assuming “we” when speaking or using anonymous people who aren’t present, i.e. “many people think….”). 
3. We allow and appreciate the perspectives of others (we seek to see and understand, rather than argue or criticize). We firmly believe that making room for specific kinds of difference is what helps us learn to bear with each other in love.
4. We commit to honoring those whose bodies, gender, sexuality, etc have less power than our own. So we give “greater honor to the lesser member” (to borrow a beat from St. Paul), remembering that these conversations cost some of us disproportionately more than others, and all of us have something at stake in this conversation.

Finally, here’s the outline of the class:

Oct 12 – Why this Class Now?

• We’ll cover our history and experiences of talking about sex and gender in church, define lots of terms that we’ll use for the class, and hear about questions and concerns people bring to our discussion together. 

Oct 19 –  What the Bible Actually Says About This Stuff, Part 1

• Well talk about what the Bible has to say about marriage, pre-marital sex, polygamy, celibacy, and all the stuff the Bible assumes or prescribes (i.e. commands) that we no longer practice as Christians. 

Oct 26 –  What the Bible Actually Says About This Stuff, Part 2

• We’ll discuss the texts that have been deployed regarding LGBTQ+ concerns; we’ll discuss how the church has traditionally understood them and put forward insights and scholarship that complexify those readings.

Nov 2 – What the Episcopal Church Teaches (and Doesn’t)

• What does the Episcopal Church actually have to say about all this? What do I have to believe about sex and gender to be an Episcopalian? What does it mean to be a “big tent”? What is too big for the tent?

Nov 9 – Toward a Faithful Morality of Sex, Part 1

• Where do we go from here? How do we live faithfully as embodied, sexual creatures? What are our bodies for? This class will focus on what it means to live in a faithful embodied sexuality. 

Nov 16 – Towards a Faithful Morality of Sex, Part 2

• We’ll look at how the teachings of Jesus point us toward a faithful morality of sex and gender. We’ll pay special attention to how Jesus interacted with accepted morality of his day and the work he did to correct, challenge, or affirm it. 

Nov 23 –  Toward a Faithful Morality of Sex, Part 3

• What about areas scripture doesn’t speak to directly? What are we to make of our disagreements and areas that still need discernment? What kind of diversity of conviction can we bear faithfully and what kind can we not bear?

Nov 30 – Summary and Questions and Takeaways

• We’ll give a summary together and tackle any lingering (or new!) questions and offer some vision for what this class and our time together means for the life of our church.