2024: What Did You Miss?
A Round-Up of all things at Bible, Sex, and Gender
I posted 21 times in 2024, but I had to take one down because the person I interviewed was afraid for her safety as a trans person in this political climate (see the Gender Stories series below). While I wrote more this year than last year, I still longed to write more than I had time to do so. I have so many thoughts whirling around in my head that I want to share with you.
Having just stepped down from a year-long second job with a nonprofit, I hope I can further indulge writing in 2025, not only on Substack, but also for my editor at Eerdmans. I’m supposed to finish revisions on a book by the end of April. It’s about the biblical authors’ views on sexuality and how we extrapolate ethics from Scripture for sex and the Christian life. Maybe a 2026 release?
Below are my posts from 2024. Check out what you missed!
Public Appearances
The highlight of my year was the opportunity to interview New Testament scholar Richard Hays in what is expected to be his last public speaking engagement given a cancer recurrence. It was a sacred time. My QCF keynote “It Gets Better” from 2023 was released. I also appeared on a couple podcasts.
My Interview with Richard Hays on the Bible and Sexuality (Video)
It Gets Better (filmed previously; but released this year)
How to Navigate the Tension Between Advocacy and Healing (external link since I forgot to post about it)
Book Reviews
I was surprised to discover I only wrote one book review on sexuality this year, and it wasn’t even for Substack. I simply reference the review I did for Baptist News Global. But my most popular post of the year pertained to books written by Preston Sprinkle and Richard Hays—I compare their approaches to Scripture and why they arrive at different conclusions on same-sex relationships.
Richard Hays Changes His Mind (see also external link to my thorough review of Widening of God’s Mercy)
True Stories
What I didn’t do in book reviews, I did in self-dislosure. I shared more of my own story this year than last year. I also wrote about singer-songwriter Jennifer Knapp, as well as pastor Candace Hardnett.
Sexuality and the Christian Life
Writing is the way I process my life and the world around me. I get my “aha” experiences through putting words on a page. Yet, I share these contemplations publicly because my questions and concerns are often what others are navigating too. Writing this post on shame and sex was particularly cathartic for me.
Exploring Gender
With gender identity being such an explosive topic these days, I knew it was time for me to better educate myself. While I’m well versed in sexuality, I haven’t done as much research on gender identity. I decided to start by asking people to share their stories in a live Zoom series that was recorded. I hope it benefits you as much as it did me. You’ll be hearing more from me on gender in the future.
People & Organizations You Should Know
I’m biased since I’m married to the Executive Director, but CenterPeace is an excellent resource for LGBTQ people, parents of LGBTQ children (youth or adult), pastors and ministry leaders and anyone else wanting to respond to LGBTQ people with Christlike love.
Love my round-up so much that you want even more? You are in luck! You can see my Round-Up from 2023 too—the year I started this Substack.
2023 Round Up: What Did You Miss?
Friends, it’s the last day of 2023! In the past three months, I’ve put up 18 posts (and one Zoom group announcement). Some posts were cross-posted or moved from another blog, but many of them were new. I love this new Substack space to engage on the Bible, sexuality, and gender.
By the way, I’ve also started another Substack that focuses on my work more broadly with The Redwood Center for Spiritual Care and Education. It’s called Redwood Faith. My first post explained why I moved my newsletter to Substack from Mailchimp and what to expect there.
I’m excited to learn more about the new book!