Coming Out: stepping out of the closet and the church
I came out as a lesbian this past year. I spent the first 25 years of my life living with straight privilege but struggling internally with what was “wrong” with me. Coming out has been indescribably freeing but also incredibly tiring. Sadly, most of the weariness comes from being a lesbian at a Christian seminary. [...]
Religious Liberty and “the Pill” for All
The year 2011 proved to be a particularly challenging one for women’s health. The overall efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, restrict abortion and general reproduction rights, and argue for a clarification between “rape” and “forcible rape” resulted in many referring to these and similar events as the “War on Women.” It seemed in many ways [...]
The Fatigue of Result-Oriented Hope
Last week at State of Formation, a number of fellow contributors wrote inspiring posts about the meaning they find within their respective religions. One of these posts in particular caught my attention. My friend and colleague Amanda Robinson wrote a very thoughtful piece entitled Meaning Vs. Hope. In her post, she expressed her frustration with [...]
Learning to climb
Having just returned from my first AAR experience at this year’s annual meeting in San Francisco, my mind is still spinning. For me, it was five glorious days of nerd-heaven where theological reflections on everything from identity politics to cyborgs abound. The only responsibility I had to fill during those days was showing up and [...]
On Having to Choose: Scholar or Activist
This past August, Vanderbilt Divinity School and the Human Rights Campaign hosted a series of workshops on the issue of religion and sexuality. Though I was not actually a part of this event, I was excited about its occurrence for a couple of reasons. First, as the field of queer studies continues to grow in [...]
Seeing church in Occupy Austin
Last evening I ventured to City Hall in Austin, TX where a mass of people gathered for the Occupy Austin General Assembly which is being held each night until the actual Occupation on Thursday, October 6th. In the midst of the meeting, an upside down hat was passed around the group to collect donations so [...]
Who I am first.
For many years, my primary way of identifying myself was as a Christian. Before daughter, student, woman, athlete, or American, I was Christian. As I understood it, my relationship to God was supposed to be the priority in my life, above all other relationships, concerns, and interests, and therefore being a Christian was the center [...]
Mary Ann
Mary Ann is a third year MDiv student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She is a lesbian feminist who plans to pursue a PhD in Ecofeminist Theology. Though her interests are many, she is currently focused on exploring the relationship between humans, nonhuman animals, and the Divine.
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Contributing Scholars
Ela MeromEla is an ordained rabbi, a seeker of truth, fascinated with the paths to the divine in the everyday and the extraordinary. She is now in the midst of birthing a new progressive prayer group in Tel Aviv, where she lives and works.
Ian BurzynskiIan Burzynski served as the first Assistant Director of Operations for State of Formation. He is a non-profit worker, intercultural communication practioner, and secular advocate for intertraditional engagement. He has worked with Pathways for Mutual Respect and the Cordoba Initiative and now serves as Chief Development Officer at Distressed Children & Infants International.
Tasi PerkinsTasi Perkins is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and a Ph.D. candidate in Theological and Religious Studies at Georgetown University. He earned a B.S. from Cornell University (Statistics and Biometry)and an M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and completed a year of Th.D. work at Boston University.