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ix n Acknowledgments n T his book was conceived during the 2009 marriage equality campaign in Maine when it became clear that many people were feeling challenged not only about sexual difference and how to talk publicly about sex and sexuality, but also about ethical values and how to engage publicly in ethical inquiry. Friends and colleagues helped me early on give shape to this project and have given me ongoing encouragement, including Glenn Miller, Pamela Shellberg, Sylvia Thorson-Smith, and Anne Underwood. A version of chapter 3 (“Is It Still Adultery if the Spouse Has Alzheimer’s?”) was presented at the 2008 Schwartz Rounds on Ethics in Health Care at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. An earlier draft of chapter 4 on same-sex marriage was presented as the 2008 Carter Heyward Scholars’ Program Lecture at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Nancy A. Foss of Maine’s Abortion Access Project did a careful read of chapter 6 on reproductive justice and offered numerous suggestions. In addition, I am grateful to the Saint Andrew’s Trust for the Study of Religion and Society in Wellington, New Zealand, for their kind invitation to give the 2011 Geering Lectures. The timing could not have been better because I was on a sabbatical leave from Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine, working on this manuscript, and was delighted to spend March in a warmer clime. I am very appreciative of the opportunity that my New Zealand hosts, especially the Reverend Dr. Margaret Mayman in Wellington and the Reverend Dr. Sarah Park in Auckland, provided me to “field test” some of this material while enjoying their gracious hospitality. I also wish to express my appreciation to the Trustees of Bangor Theological Seminary for granting me a sabbatical during 2010–2011 and to my faculty colleagues who carried heavier burdens during my absence. Librarian Laurie McQuarrie has always been generous in helping me locate resources. Moreover, it has been a pleasure to work, once again, with Ulrike Guthrie, a superb editor and treasured friend, and also to carry this project to fruition with Susan Johnson and the fine staff at Fortress Press. Every author should have such a supportive team. And, finally, I am grateful to my life partner, Frank Brooks, my sister, Elizabeth Ellison, and my colleague Mary x | acknowledgments Hobgood for reading the manuscript at various stages, making all sorts of fine suggestions , and pushing me to “write big” and reach out to as diverse an audience as possible. After all, many of us are not only sexually perplexed and in need of ethical guidance, but also hungry for a justice-centered spirituality that encourages us to embrace the body as holy and good. ...

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