Many Members Yet One Body: Committed Same-Gender Relationships and the Mission of the Church

Craig Nessan has contributed an accessible overview of the homosexuality debate with a brief outline of a "third way." This book is worth the price alone for Nessan's wise first chapter, which begins by defining with clarity the heart of Christianity (God's revelation and salvation in Jesus), and from that starting point addresses the particular issue of sexuality. Brief summaries of commonly held, divergent positions are accurately reviewed with the suggestion that it is highly unlikely that there will ever be a widely agreed upon middle ground in the Christian church. Thus, a "third way" is proposed in this book: Can Christians and the Church agree to disagree on the issue of homosexuality and grant freedom of conviction to individuals as they are guided by faith? This small text acknowledges the complexity of studying homosexuality is not simply a matter of applying the one, pure, Orthodox hermeneutic for interpreting scripture with a simple, trouble-free answer...and that there are likely more important core issues which ought to demand our time and energy! PS: Thank you, Craig, for using the whole of II Corinthians as a way of showing the more excellent way: God's love.

Same-Gender relationships are a hot topic. We see stories in the news about cities, counties and states testing the legal boundaries regarding same-gender civil unions and marriages. The topic is hot within many churches as well. Perhaps even more than in the secular world, within the context of the church, the discussion regarding accepting or rejecting same-gender unions generates strong opinions and passions.One Christian denomination currently undergoing a formal study regarding this issue is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This book seeks to provide a resource for congregations that have begun such conversations. It is a relatively small book, (96 pages) that does an exceptional job in laying a groundwork by which people of faith may learn, talk and yet agree to disagree with one another. The Rev. Dr. Craig Nessan is the Academic Dean and Professor at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, a Lutheran seminary. Although there are specific references to the matter before the ELCA, I would highly recommend this book to any person of faith who seeks to find a way through the maze of seemingly contradictory opinions on such a potentially explosive topic. I particularly like Dr. Nessan's vision of "Beyond Polarization to Common Ground" that underscores what is common in our faith and what truly can bind us together.A well-balanced offering from a good scholar and committed Christian, this book is a dose of sanity in the midst of an often insane debate.