Possibilities for Inclusive Family and Community in Beth Stroud’s “Walking in the Light”

Acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals by Christian churches has been uneven at best, with renewed condemnation following each progressive step. Yet LGB Christians remain in denominations whose attitudes toward their sexuality range from mere tolerance to outright condemnation. To make sense of this, we turn to the case of the Rev. Beth Stroud who came out as a lesbian in a 2003 sermon she delivered at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Stroud turned to Christian and queer images of family that blurred the lines between family and community, and she used a metonymy of “making casseroles” to encourage the congregation to engage in an array of inclusive community building practices. By crafting images of queer family and mobilizing them alongside calls for tactics that create inclusive communities, Stroud’s language highlights the potential for crafting an accepting and inclusive Christian community that might help those LGB and queer persons whose lives are imbricated in the church.