grwm for ministry

Seminarian. Queer affirming. Lutheran. Side blog. I follow from the-belldam ze/hir or he/him

[iustuspeccator]

About Me

This is a side blog so I don't annoy my irl friends with Christian discourse lol. I'm Joanie. My identity is foremost Christian and then, in no particular order: Lutheran, queer, trans, white, USAmerican. Also some other things but these are the perspectives I cannot speak outside of.

I am a second year seminarian and candidate for ministry! My current ministry interests are expressions of future church life, pathways to Christianity for faith seekers marginalized by the church, repairing harm done by the church, reclaiming Christianity from the American right-wing, and intra- and interfaith ecumenism. (Phrasing borrowed from Amos Yong.)

My ongoing theological/historical interests are forgiveness, the Judaic roots of Christianity, universal salvation, universalism/religious plurality, queer theology, the Apostolic Age, Patristic Age and Reformation. This doesn't mean these are areas of expertise but rather areas of exploration and questioning.

I like to argue, a word which here means to make reasoned statements to prove or refute an argument, especially for the purpose of learning. I do not like to fight. I value source citation, precision in language, and sincerity. I want to really stress again that arguing is fun for me, so if I'm arguing on your post and it's not fun for you, just block me. Or if you want to continue the discussion but it's not fun, let me know and I'll adjust my tone.

My username is a reference to Martin Luther's phrase, simul iustus et peccator- simultaneously justified and sinner. To me, the tradition of Lutheranism gifts me a deep understand that I will sin and I will fail, but that in God I have the confidence that my sin will never be the end of me. It is God's grace that gives me the freedom not to hide from my mistakes, but to face them and correct them.

Thanks for reading, peace be with you.

PS the cat in my header is Patches and that's her laying on one of my Bibles while I read a different one because I couldn't make her leave <3

[episcopaldailyrosary]

Happy Pride Month to all my fellow queers! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

You are wonderfully loved and created by God. <3

[many-sparrows]

Everybody get gayer and more religious now!!!!!!

[shanesmouth]

also your queerness and your expressions of it are literally sacred. by the way

[faithshaped]

gnawing at the bars of my enclosure about the trinity. you don't understand. you'll never understand. but god is love, an unceasing flow of love between the three divine persons. and when you pray to god the creator you pray to the son and holy spirit. and when you invoke the son's name you call on god the creator and the holy spirit. and when the holy spirit dwells in you, god the creator and the son dwell in you too. the son and the father are one. the consoler is both. you don't understand. i don't understand. we'll never understand. but god is love, and he is sharing that love with us out of pure goodness, because he is pure goodness.

[sacredheart-stigmata]

i don't understand. we'll never understand. but god is love, and he is sharing that love with us out of pure goodness, because he is pure goodness.

[iustuspeccator]

IS IT TRINITY SUNDAY TODAY?? I DIDN'T GO TO CHURCH

[waferwolf]

every time an alt girl goes conservative because she thinks that's what she needs to do to follow Christ, a flowerbed withers up and dies

[creature-wizard]

Hey non-Christians, every time you're like "ummm akshually Christianity is inherently oppressive because the Bible says XYZ (and you have to agree with this interpretation and follow it to be Christian)", literally all you're doing is agreeing with the uberconservatives who are making sure Christianity stays oppressive instead of permitting alternate interpretations and alternate ways of approaching its texts. You aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

[iustuspeccator]

served communion at the baccalaureate service at school today and I. spilled. so much. sacramental wine on my hand and also my shirtsleeve because we had to pour from a chalice into tiny cups for each communicant. does anyone know what you do with a shirt that has the blood of Christ in it. like can I put that in the wash or do I have to cut my shirtsleeve off and adore it now

[ohholydyke]

In honor of St Joan of Arc’s feast day we should all dress a little queerer, get weirder about God and the saints, and fight to overthrow the government

[cryptotheism]

It does bother me a little bit when people call esoteric works like the Book of Revelation "incomprehensible". It's not! It's just esoteric! It was written by real people for materially comprehensible reasons!

[cryptotheism]

The underlying message of apocalyptic literature as a social technology is geopolitical. It says "don't worry; God has a plan."

[ohholydyke]

Jesus Christ is Risen Today but it’s remixed into a beat drop that transitions into club music do you see my visions

[many-sparrows]

Sometime I think that allowing yourself to have a childlike faith also means allowing yourself to get hurt. There are few in the world who suffer more than children, at the hands of families, states, poverty, etc. It is not enough to be in solidarity with the most vulnerable, we must also become them. We must Love and Trust and that will mean being hurt by the tragic errors of a sinning world. But that’s how we draw closer to God.

[mysticismmess]

Being against and standing up to fascism is a Christian duty and obligation, not a choice

[opinions-et-cetera]

Despite the fact that the ones who set up and run fascism are often Christians? (in the west at least)

[elbys-hysterics]

especially because of it imo

[iustuspeccator]

changing my username to literallylutheran so people stop assuming I'm Catholic 😑

[gayleviticus]

evangelism/outreach/whatever you want to call it etc is obviously a v hot topic issue w progressive christians not only bc of colonialism but also bc of personal religious trauma from (often) being exvangelical, and i get that and think it's an area to be seriously re-evaluated (and i do think its important to deconstruct the heavy emphasis on evangelism from evangelical spaces, especially the idea that it is every christian's #1 priority)

with that said, i think the kneejerk reaction against outreach in any form that i sometimes see can seem extremely naive and impractical. like. every organisation does some kind of outreach. even within judaism, a famously non-proselytising religion, there are still groups that try to reach out to non-practising Jews and reconnect them with their faith. the local board games club advertises itself. sports teams need members to thrive.

that does not need to be some sinister ulterior motive. yes, religion does carry more weight than just sports teams and is intwined with culture, issues of autonomy etc - your church doing outreach is not just the same as trying to get people to join your sewing club. but i think sometimes people overreact against evangelicalism and promote a 'let them just find us' approach that i think is just frankly unrealistic for any organisation.

of course, i dont then mean churches (or other religions for that matter) should be out street preaching and doorknocking. but i think finding ways to invite in is important and worthwhile - rather than either 'let's sit here and people will come to us because we're so cool and epic' or trying to seduce/coerce/lure people in.

even with just normal social events, i find it often feels more welcoming and enticing to be explicitly invited than just invited to a nebulous FB event or get @ ed in a group chat. that's not true for everyone, nor is it true in every circumstance, and it is definitely not without its baggage in religious circles. it is something to think carefully about.

i just think when people propose that places of worship just sit around and decline because if theyre truly worthy people will just show up - which is not true of any initiative of any kind - it seems very naive. it would be more honest to say 'i think outreach is too fraught and too morally risky to even try' than to suggest that actually, it's being pragmatic to do nothing.

also, it essentially cedes the ground to the religious organisations that ARE out there outreaching with zero qualms. and of course if they are willing to use unethical tactics that disrespect people's autonomy and invoke fear of hellfire then in some regards they will see success that people with principles don't -but ceding the entire field to them is i think also not helpful. anyway, just some musings. feel free to disagree but please be nice

[iustuspeccator]

the thing about Mark Driscoll's made-up body-builder Jesus is that you find this everywhere. in my first semester at seminary I had a classmate, a lifelong Lutheran and very conservative theologian, say that Jesus "wasn't a victim" because he was essentially in control and didn't "let" it happen to him. modern Lutherans will say with a straight face that the paschal victim wasn't a victim because they can't worship someone who loses. you can't separate Christus Victor from Christ crucified.

like maybe instead of denying Christ's identity as a victim you should allow generate some sort of empathy or concern for victims of state violence, abuse, persecution, oppression....even those that you think """let it happen"""....just a thought...