A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Episcopal priest Elizabeth Edman argues that queer experience can illuminate a Christian ethic of authenticity, risk, relationship, scandal, and chosen belonging. Rather than merely ask whether churches should include LGBTQ people, she reads queerness as a spiritual lens that exposes contested boundaries and calls communities toward more truthful forms of identity and covenant, drawing on Scripture, Christian tradition, activism, and memoir.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
This book moves beyond an inclusion debate in which straight or cisgender institutions remain the unquestioned center and queer people await permission. Edman presents queer lives as sources of theological insight capable of addressing the whole church. It belongs as constructive, affirming Christian theology and as a bridge for travelers trying to hold faith and queer identity together. Its account is one proposal, not a universal definition of queerness or Christian virtue.
Good starting place if…
You want an affirming Christian argument that treats queer experience as a source of spiritual and ethical insight rather than only a problem for church policy.
Know before you begin…
Edman writes from an Episcopal Christian location and uses queer both as lived identity and as a broader boundary-challenging lens; not every LGBTQ person embraces that term or theological use. The book may be painful for readers whose Christian language remains associated with rejection, while nonaffirming readers will dispute its biblical and doctrinal conclusions. No theology of risk should romanticize exposure: disclosure, activism, reconciliation, and continued church participation must remain voluntary and attentive to safety.