IGB Summer Book Club with Charlie Bell discussing Queer Holiness
August 7, 2022
03:00 pm - 04:30 pm
On Sunday, 7th August we’re thrilled to welcome Charlie Bell who will be joining us on Zoom to talk about his new book, Queer Holiness: The Gift of LGBTQI People to the Church.
This Zoom is open to all people of good will, whether or not you usually attend IGB. Register in advance for your Zoom link here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtc-CurDgqE9KvQTdGbZBfTTeiaL5LtvRH
This will be an interactive live Zoom discussion with Charlie Bell, which will include plenty of time for questions, stories and conversations – we won’t be livestreaming our Zoom directly, but we will record it and post it at a later point. (giving everyone the opportunity to be edited out of the recording should they choose).
The book is available for pre-order from Amazon and will be released at the end of May, giving you plenty of time to read it before our Book Club. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Queer-Holiness-LGBTQI-People-Church/dp/1913657922/
Feel free to come along and take part EVEN if you haven’t finished the book. If you need help getting a copy of the book email newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com.
About the Book:
For millennia the church has told LGBTQI people what God expects them to be and how to act. From prohibitions on who they may love and marry, to being victims of erasure and denial, LGBTQI people are far too often objectified and seen as the property of others. LGBTQI people remain the subject of hostile questions rather than being embraced as equal children of God. As the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith concludes, the welcome – or otherwise – the church offers to LGBTQI people is once again in the spotlight. The liberation of LGBTQI people is not only for LGBTQI people – it is a task for the whole people of God.
Charlie Bell faces these issues head on. His thesis is simple – to reject the overwhelming scientific and experiential knowledge about LGBTQI people is no longer valid. His perspective is grounded in his work as a psychiatrist and a (Church of England) deacon, and covers biology, psychology, reason, scripture and an encompassing theological exploration.
No mere reformulation of old arguments, Charlie’s vision consistently examines the church’s behaviour and life in the light of what we know about human personhood. He depicts the church’s current flawed consensus on LGBTQI people, and its tragic results, and proposes an inclusive, healing, way forward. He calls for an end to cheap and easy theological answers, that treat LGBTQI Christians as pawns in a game, and in doing so makes an appeal to the church, and its members, to finally take action. There is much that is holy in the lives of LGBTQI people, and until the church recognises them as a gift, it can never be the Body of Christ that it is called to be. This is the challenge for the church of today, and it is time for the church to recovery its prophetic and lifegiving message for all people, not just the select few.
About Charlie Bell:
Charlie Bell is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. He is also the John Marks Fellow, College Lecturer and Director of Studies in Medicine at Girton College Cambridge. In 2021 he was ordained deacon in the Church of England and is serving his curacy in the Diocese of Southwark.
About Inclusive Gathering Birmingham:
Inclusive Gathering Birmingham is a diverse church gathered together by a common dream: to become a truly inclusive faith community, where doubt and difference are a welcome part of our journey together toward Jesus. We believe that the way of Jesus leads us to the wild, radical idea that true spiritual community can be formed based on who is INCLUDED, not by who is EXCLUDED. We are a learning community, constantly growing and changing to live out this vision in new and expanding ways.
When we say “inclusion”, we mean much more than mere tolerance or welcome. We believe God wants us all to know that we actually belong. That means people of every race and ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, age and background, HIV status, ability and disability, theological and political conviction are loved, invited, and fully included. Read more about what makes us tick at www.inclusivegathering.org.uk or send an email to newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com to ask questions or chat.
