Call for Submissions: Our God is an Awkward God

Edited by Megan Rohrer 

Our God is an Awkward God: In Celebration of a God as Wonderfully Strange as We Are is an interfaith collection of writings about the full diversity of the imago dei (image of God), or an appropriate way of supporting the diversity of creation as found in non-theistic faith traditions.  A mixture of narrative, poem, art and other reflections, this book will be like an adult, non-fiction version of Are You There God It's Me, Margaret.

Accepted authors will receive a free copy of the book.  Proceeds from the book will benefit Welcome: A Communal Response to Poverty and authors will have access to purchasing books at cost for their own use or sale.

Deadline for consideration for the first edition: Sept 1, 2018.

How to Contribute to Our God is an Awkward God:

• Contributors are strongly encouraged to speak about their own uniqueness or strangeness, rather than writing about the diversity of communities that they are not a part of. 
• Contributors may email pastor@gracesf.com before they begin writing, if they have questions about the subject or appropriateness of submissions, or are interested in thematic suggestions or prompts from sacred texts.  Send a short synopsis of your idea and we'll give you feedback.  
• To Submit: Please send non-fiction contributions that are no more than 20 pages.  Submissions may be scholarly (Chicago formatting please), narrative, interview, poems or art.  For other types of writing please contact the editor about your idea.  Authors may submit more than one submission. Please also include a one paragraph biography in addition to your submission.  All items can be emailed to: pastor@gracesf.com. 
• First drafts are due September 1st, unless special permission is given by the editors.  If possible, we hope to publish this book before November of 2018.

Call for Submissions: Praxis of Aloha

Edited by Megan Rohrer and Gerry Ebalaroza-Tunnell

The Praxis of Aloha: Living Aloha in Schools, Community and Politics is a transdisciplinary response to the Pedagogy of Aloha.  A mixture of narrative, research, practical application and critical analysis, this collective reflection begins a conversation about what the practice of Aloha looks like in schools, community, and politics.

Accepted authors will receive a free copy of the book.  Proceeds from the book will benefit Welcome: A Communal Response to Poverty and the Homeless Vision Project's work providing free prescription eye glasses in Hawaii.

Deadline for consideration for the first edition: March 15, 2017.

How to Contribute to Praxis of Aloha:

• Contributors are encouraged to email pastor@gracesf.com before you begin writing.  Send a short synopsis of your idea and we'll give you feedback or let you know if we already have submissions using similar themes.
• To Submit: Please send non-fiction contributions that are no more than 20 pages.  Submissions may be scholarly (APA formatting please), narrative, interview or poems.  For other types of writing please contact the editors about your idea.  Authors may submit more than one submission. Please also include a one paragraph biography in addition to your submission.  All items can be emailed to: pastor@gracesf.com. 
• First drafts are due March 15th, unless special permission is given by the editors.  If possible, we hope to publish this book in November of 2017.

Vanguard Revisited: The Queer Faith, Sex & Politics of The Youth of San Francisco's Tenderloin

Working with a variety of homeless youth services organizations, program coordinators Joey Plaster and Pastor Megan Rohrer presented the history of Vanguard to contemporary queer youth. We then asked them to respond by submitting stories, art, and poetry “in conversation” with original 1960s essays, or touching on similar themes.

A zine called Vanguard Revisted was published and featured new voices from 2011, along with reprints from the original Vanguard Magazine of the 1960s. These materials were supplemented with archival materials, a historical narrative, and writings from urban ministers and youth organizers.

Celebrating the five year anniversary of Vanguard Revisited, this special edition book includes previously unpublished materials the youth call Otro Vanguard.

The paperback will be available exclusively at the GLBT History and Tenderloin Museums in San Francisco.

Manifest: About the Authors

About the Authors

ALEX MYERS is a high school English teacher currently living in New Hampshire.  His debut novel, Revolutionary, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2014; it tells the story of Alex's ancestor, Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man and fought in the Revolutionary War.  Alex has been an advocate and educator on transgender identity since he came out in 1995.

ANDREW GUY is Australia’s first transgender television host. His work raises awareness about self-healing, domestic violence, depression and gender identity.  Andrew was producer and assistant director of the documentary It’s Not About The Sex and his Zipper Portrait was the poster art for the GLBTI Midsumma Arts Festival Round the Bend exhibit in 2012. Andrew won awards for youth and community advocacy work including the  2007 and 2008 Young Australian Export Award for Excellence and an Australian Most Outstanding Contribution to Exports Award. You can learn more about Andrew at www.andrewiguy.com.

BASIL SOPER is a transgender writer, activist, and Southerner who wears his heart on his sleeve. He wants to write a memoir and continue utilizing intersectional practices while operating in the social justice field. He can be reached at www.ncqueer.com.

BENJI YOUNG is the pen name of a trans man who lives in North Carolina with his two dogs, a rabbit, a hamster, and a cat. He studies Psychology and Sociology at a local community college. In his spare time he writes essays and nonfiction that generally focus on gender and body image issues.

CAMERON THOMAS WHITLEY is the co-editor of Trans-Kin: A Guide for Family and Friends of Transgender People, which won a 2013 International Book Award. Cameron has long been dedicated to trans activism and scholarship, from his early days working to assist university health centers and campus organizations in the creation of trans-inclusive programming to his work on HIV/AIDS prevention and education in the Caribbean. His work has been featured in numerous anthologies and journals such as Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation, Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect, Trans/Love: Radical Sex, Love & Relationships Beyond the Gender Binary, Visible: A Femmethology, and Manning Up: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family & Themselves.

CHAD RATNER is a transgender author who was recently published in the 2014 anthology, Manning Up: Transexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family & Themselves. Chad has also served as a contributing writer for the magazine Blade California and has been featured on www.transgenderdaily.com. He received his B.A. from Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina and currently resides in Southern California. In his free time, Chad volunteers as a speaker for PFLAG and is a proud husband and father.

DADE BARLOW is a 33 year old transman from Oregon who co-owns an electrical engineering and contracting company. Dade enjoys sharing life with his wife and daughter. He is also an advocate for the transgender community.

EGON BOTTEGHI is a co-founder of the Intersexioni and Anguane collectives and in 2008 was a co-founder of the first livestock shelters in Italy. Egon is also the creator of the Liberazione Generale (General Liberation) project, a series of day studies on political practice (Florence 2013 and Verona 2014) on the correlations between animal liberation, homo/transphobia, sexism, and intersex rights. He authored of Mi chiamo Egon. Diario di un uomo transessuale (My name is Egon. Diary of a transsexual man), which debuted in Pisa in 2015.

EWAN DUARTE is a Bay Area based professional filmmaker, writer, photographer, and educator. He holds his MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.  Ewan was born and raised in Fresno, CA and currently lives in Oakland, CA. His previous short films, Change Over Time and Spiral Transition have screened in over 140 film festivals worldwide! He is currently working on his first feature documentary. Ewan's writings have been published in LILIPOH, Original Plumbing Magazine, IndieWire, Huffington Post and more. www.ewanduarteproductions.com

GIDEON C. ELLIOTT graduated with his B.A. in Psychology at 19 with a 4.0, the member of four honor societies and the recipient of multiple awards for academic excellence. Despite pouring all of his energy into these efforts, he couldn't distract himself from transition forever and is now much more aware of vitality and much better off than the role model student ever was. He'd like to go back to school one day, but is currently enjoying living like a starving artist minus the art.

JAMES ST. JAMES is a Contributing Writer for Everyday Feminism. He works as a transcriber for super-duper secret projects, tends to keep to himself and is currently pitching a novel that scares agents. He uses his experiences to reach out to others, usually by way of not keeping his mouth shut. When he’s not busy making cisgender people uncomfortable with his trans gender agenda, he likes to play vintage video games and eat candy. You can praise him on Twitter @JamesStJamesVI.

JAY SENNETT is a writer and publisher living in Michigan. He is the co-founder of Homofactus Press at wwww.homofactuspress.com and the author of a lively series on writing at www.jaysennett.com.

JULES COLLINS writes poetry and short stories while teaching ESL to adults.  You can currently find Jules’ poetry featured in the latest issue of soul-lit magazine.  Jules resides just outside of Boston with his trusty feline sidekick "Cub Scout."

LUCAS SILVEIRA is best known for being the front-man of Canadian band The Cliks. He is also the first out transgender man to have been signed to a major label record deal. He’s had 4 record releases with The Cliks since 2006 (Warner Music/Tommy Boy/Universal) and 3 solo record releases (Independent). Lucas has toured extensively alongside acts such as Cyndi Lauper, The Cult, The New York Dolls, Debbie Harry and Tegan and Sara to name a few as well as having appeared on National Television shows such as Late Late Night with Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel. Lucas is a multimedia artist who does visual art, writes, acts and is a part time online web host for Xtra! TV.  He also does public speaking at Colleges and Universities all over Canada and the U.S. He has written think pieces for Now Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Advocate, sold many of his art pieces to his dedicated fanbase, and has appeared in the TIFF Award Winning film Hope (Pedro Pires) and Candy (Cassandra Cronenberg). He is currently writing music for his next solo effort to be released in late 2016.

MALCOLM HIMSCHOOT is a father of two, and a writer whose essays and poems have appeared in religious and queer publications. He lives in Cleveland where he holds a position with the denominational staff of the United Church of Christ.

MEGAN ROHRER is the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church.  The Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church and the Executive Director of Welcome - a communal response to poverty in San Francisco.  Megan received an honorable mention as an Unsung Hero of Compassion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, was presented a Medal of Tolerance by the King of Tallo in Indonesia for the illustrated documentary Zanderology (about the life of Zander Keig), received an Honorary Doctorate from Palo Alto University and won Out History’s Since Stonewall Local History Competition.  A contributing blogger for Living Lutheran, published in Briarpatch Magazine and Transgender Studies Quarterly, Pastor Rohrer has written and edited more than twenty books, including Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in transgender non-fiction.

NICK KRIEGER is the author of the memoir, Nina Here Nor There: My Journey Beyond Gender, winner of a Stonewall Honor Book Award. His writing has also earned several travel-writing awards and has been published in multiple travel guides. Nick leads writing seminars, shares his yoga practice with others, and speaks about trans issues at colleges around the country.

PAZ is a visual fine artist in the LA. He works in many mediums including painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture. His work is figurative, surreal, expressionistic, edgy emotional and often controversial. You can see Paz’s art work at PAZ-ART.COM

REID VANDERBURGH is a retired therapist, living in Portland, Oregon. The author of Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity and Journeys of Transformation: Stories from Across the Acronym, Reid has authored several journal articles and book chapters, in addition to publishing numerous articles at: www.transtherapist.com.

SANDY E. JAMES is a Survey Project Manager for the National Center for Transgender Equality.  After a career as a forensic toxicologist, Sandy became a civil rights advocate with a focus on laws and policies that affect transgender people. Sandy previously worked extensively with the National Transgender Discrimination Survey as the Urvashi Vaid Research Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force. Sandy received a J.D. and an M.A. in American Government from Georgetown University and is pursuing his Ph.D. at Georgetown University.

ZANDER KEIG is co-editor of Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect and Manning Up: Transsexual Men on Finding Brotherhood, Family and Themselves, featured in the film Zanderology and serves on the Transgender American Veterans Association board of directors. www.zanderkeig.net

In the News: Impact Magazine

First-Ever LGBTQ Religious Children’s Books Now Available!

Posted by Kittredge Cherry in Church Chat, Featured

A page from “Faithful Families”

LGBTQ-affirming religious books for kids are available for the first time ever with the launch of the Good News Children’s Book Series this spring.
Books such as “Faithful Families” remind children that God loves them, no matter what their family looks like — even if they have two mommies or two daddies.
“Mr. Grumpy Christian” is for LGBTQ families to read if they hear Christians telling them that God cannot love them.
“Transgender Children of God” affirms transgender parents and children by declaring that God will love us no matter what we wear, who we love or how we identify.
“What to Wear to Church” was written with transgender children in mind, while the gender diversity of God’s creation is affirmed in “Is it a Boy, Girl or Both?”
The books are published by Wilgefortis Press as a project of Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco. All nine books in the series so far are written byMegan Rohrer, pastor at Grace Lutheran and the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church.

Megan Rohrer

Not every book in the series specifically addresses LGBTQ themes, but each one is promoted as “a safe book for reconciling churches and diverse families.”
Aimed at children from pre-school up to age 12, each book expresses God’s all-inclusive love with simple language and beautiful pictures by a variety of illustrators.
“My thought with these books is that as a collection they could help kids know that they are loved no matter what they wear, who they love and no matter what others tell them about it,” Rohrer told the Jesus in Love Blog.
The books grew naturally out of the ministry at Grace Lutheran. “A longtime welcoming congregation located in San Francisco, with a transgender pastor, we knew that our children’s books had the ability to be full of the grace that our congregation was named after,” Rohrer explained.
The first nine books were published quickly in February and March so they would be ready to use as prizes for the congregation’s Easter Egg Hunt.
“The children who received them over Easter were really excited and loved getting something they could take home with them from the service,” Rohrer said.
The books delighted adults in the church too. “Many wished they had books like this when they were younger,” Rohrer said.
“Faithful Families” was inspired by the many families and children at the church’s Grace Infant Child Care Center. Rohrer co-wrote it with Pamela Ryan, director of the center for more than 30 years. It is illustrated by Ihnatovich Maryia and aimed at children up to 8 years old.

A page from “Mr. Grumpy Christian”

Rohrer wrote “Mr. Grumpy Christian” after meeting a 7-year old-boy who tried to kill himself because a pastor threatened him with hell. It is suitable for LGBTQ families who face hostility from other Christians. Children ages 5 to 10 are the target audience. The rhyming book affirms:

When a grumpy Christian ruins your day,
Remember God’s love is here to stay.

In the true spirit of Christ, the book goes on to add, “But remember that God’s love extends to grumpy Christians too.”
“What to Wear to Church” reminds children that God will always love them no matter what clothes they wear. The illustrations were designed from a photo of Rohrer’s real-life grandmother, who inspired the story.
“‘What to Wear to Church’ is a short book for toddlers that I imagine my grandma reading to me if she knew I was going to grow up to be transgender,” Rohrer said. It is illustrated by Daren Drda.
“Is it a Boy, Girl or Both?” is one of the series’ most popular books with children. Pictures of animals illustrate the point that God’s creation includes many kinds of gender expression.  It is geared to children up to 8 years old. After exploring everything from koalas and penguins to banana slugs, the book concludes:

But, no matter your favorite color,
what your body looks like,
if you have a baby or not,
if you are in charge,
if you are a girl, boy, both or do not know,
or how any of these things change in the future,
God will love you no matter what.
And so will I.

Others in the series of Good News Children’s Books include “Church Bugs,” “Jesus’ Family,” “The Parable of the Succulent” and “The Children’s Crumbs.”
“We even have a book on the Holocaust that has some of my favorite illustrations of the series,” Rohrer said. “Never Again” was inspired by Rohrer’s wife Laurel, whose relatives who were killed in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Illustrations are by Eugene Ivanov.
Wilgefortis Press works with a variety of artists to illustrate the Good News Children’s Books. “We gave the artists the story and creative license to illustrate,” Rohrer explained.
Rohrer received a master of divinity degree from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA and is currently a candidate for the doctorate of ministry degree there. Rohrer created Wilgefortis Press to publish books about queer, disability and poverty issues. Other books by Rohrer include “Queerly Lutheran” and “Letters for My Brothers: Transitional Wisdom in Retrospect.”
Rohrer was an art major at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD before switching to religion. That artistic training will be put to use when Rohrer serves as both writer and illustrator of the next book in the series. It addresses how hard it is to come to church for the first time by telling the story of a dog coming to church.
The Good News Children’s Books are published as both ebooks and paperbacks, and are available on Amazon.com (see links below for quick ordering). Discounts on paperbacks ordered directly from the church are available by contacting pastor@gracesf.com.

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This post is part of the Artists series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. The series profiles artists who use lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer spiritual and religious imagery. It also highlights great queer artists from history, with an emphasis on their spiritual lives.

KITTREDGE CHERRY is a lesbian Christian author who writes regularly about LGBT spirituality and the arts for the Jesus in Love Blog. She was ordained by Metropolitan Community Churches and served as its national ecumenical officer, advocating for LGBT rights at the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches. She holds degrees in religion, journalism and art history. Her most recent book is The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.  (Read IMPACT’s review of her book here).

Transgender Children of God: Megan Rohrer: Good News Children's Books

Transgender Children of God, by Pastor Megan Rohrer, celebrates the diverse choices that transgender individuals can make throughout their life and declares that God will love us no matter what we choose, wear, who we love or how we identify.  This book also affirms transgender parents, though it can be read by any progressive, interfaith family members.  This is the 10th book in the Good News Children's Book Series.

The Rev. Megan Rohrer, is the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church and an advocate for homeless LGBT San Franciscans.  Pastor Megan is listed in the Trans100, received an honorable mention as an Unsung Hero of Compassion by His Holiness the Dali Lama, won awards in LGBT history and documentary film and was a finalist in transgender non-fiction for the Lambda Literary Award.  

The Good News Childrens Book Series are books for diverse families and reconciling faith

communities.  Each book reminds children that no matter what they do, say, wear or love, that God will love them.  With diverse themes and beautiful pictures, these books are a project of Grace Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

eBooks are exclusively available through Amazon, while print books will be available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and for discounted purchase from Grace Lutheran.

a Wilgefortis book 4 kids

The INTRAfaith Conversation: How Do Christians Talk Among Ourselves About INTERFAITH Matters?: Susan M. Strouse

The INTRAfaith Conversation: How Do Christians Talk Among Ourselves About INTERfaith Matters? by Susan M. Strouse is a guide for individuals and faith communities to explore what it means to be a Christian in a multifaith world.

The Rev. Dr. Susan M. Strouse is currently the pastor at First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

In these religiously raucous times, one can be easily confused.  Susan Strouse offers in this readable book, practical ways of dealing with our confusion, while suggesting accessible paths toward the building of authentic interfaith community.  She poses essential intrafaith questions to guide us as we seek to be faithful, hospitable believers. Through stories and theological insights, Strouse lavishes all who seek to live with grace in the current milieu a most meaningful gift. – Kathleen S. Hurty, Ph.D., co-editor of Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: Where Grace Meets Power

An eye-opener that addresses the heart of something vital. Dialogue, respect, compassion are all bound up with each other. If this work is not done, it puts the human species in very grave peril. The book is an urgent and timely presentation for a pluralistic and respectful dialogue between the great wisdom ways of the worlds, with a view to dispelling ignorance and bias and promoting understanding through dialogue. - Roger Creet, member of First United Lutheran Church

                                              

Susan - I found your book enjoyable throughout. Your breakdown of the subject matter and handling each in bite-size pieces is very smart. Your section ending questions are also well-placed. I found myself either agreeing with or learning from everything you wrote. I would recommend the book being used in congregational settings quite highly.” -  The Rev. Brian Stein-Webber, Chief Administrative Officer, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary 

INTERfaith dialogue is challenging enough, but INTRAfaith conversations are even more so.  Rev. Dr. Strouse has given us a much-needed toolbox for engaging respectfully with each other to increase our understanding of the “other”.  Linda Crawford, Executive Director, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA

This book is currently available at Amazon Kindle and will be released in paperback at First United Lutheran Church on April 24, 2016.