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December 2013
Jesus in Love Newsletter
LGBT spirituality and the arts
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In This Issue
Gay Israeli artist
Advent
Knowing God loves us
Mystical marriage
World AIDS Day
Harvey Milk
Christimas offering
LGBT cards and gifts
Christmas faves


glbt spirituality & arts
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Vision statement

Jesus in Love supports lesbian, gay, bi trans and queer  (LGBTQ) spirituality, with an emphasis on art and literature. It promotes artistic and religious freedom and teaches love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. It is based on these beliefs: God loves all people, including sexual minorities. The creative process is sacred. The queer visions, especially the gay Jesus and LGBT saints, will free people to experience the divine in new ways and lead to a more just world.

 

Jesus in Love was founded by lesbian Christian author Kittredge Cherry as her personal gift to the world.  

 

A gay Israeli artist brings Biblical stories alive for today in the top story of  the Advent newsletter. I bring you queer cheer during this season of expectant waiting and holiday festivities.
Gay Israeli artist humanizes Bible stories

David and Jonathan by Adi Nes

Gay artist Adi Nes gives shocking clarity to Biblical stories by using homoeroticism and homelessness to subvert stereotypes.

 

His method brings alive same-sex pairs David-and-Jonathan and Ruth-and-Naomi as well as other Biblical figures. Based in Tel Aviv, Nes counteracts the usual heroic portrayals by photographing them as marginalized outcasts struggling to survive on the streets of Israel today. More info

 

(Credit: "David and Jonathan" by Adi Nes)

Welcome Advent: Redefining virgin birth 

Annunication by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin
Welcome Advent the queer way by considering the virgin birth with fresh eyes and ears.

Advent opens on a queer note with a new musical Advent calendar created by Welsh musician Andrew Craig Williams. The theme of the lesbian virgin birth is also explored visually in contemporary artwork posted on the Jesus in Love Blog. More info 


(Credit: "Annunciation" by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin

How do queers know God loves us?   

  Gays and Biblical Inspiration by David Hayward

God's thoughts on how to express love to LGBT people today are imagined in a new cartoon by David Hayward, a Canadian artist who runs the blog "nakedpastor." He gives visual form to the inner dialogue among the Holy Trinity long ago when the Bible was first being written.

More info 

 

(Credit: "Gays and Biblical Inspiration" by David Hayward)

Mystical same-sex marriage with Jesus
Mystical Marriage of Blessed Fr. Bernardo de Hoyos by William Hart McNichols
Blessed Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos is a 18th-century Spanish priest who wrote vividly of his mystical gay marriage to Jesus.  Bernardo was 18 when he had a vision of marrying Jesus, with all the symbols of a human wedding. More info

(Credit: "The Mystical Marriage of Blessed Fr. Bernardo de Hoyos y de Sena, SJ" by William McNichols)
World AIDS Day 25th anniversary

Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic by Lewis Williams
World AIDS Day marked its 25th anniversary on Dec. 1.

Resources include the icon "Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic," which shows two pairs of medieval male saints who faced epidemics together with friendship and faith.  More info

In 1988, the same year that World AIDS Day began, I co-wrote the Christian Century article "We are the Church Alive, the Church with AIDS."


I still keep a small brick on my desk saying, "We are the body of Christ and we have AIDS." 

 

(Credit: "Patrons of the AIDS Pandemic" by Lewis Williams, trinitystores.com

Remembering Harvey Milk 35 years later  

Harvey Milk icon by Robert Lentz
Harvey Milk has became the public face of the LGBT rights movement since his assassination 35 years ago on Nov. 27, 1978.  He was the first and most famous openly gay male elected official in California, and perhaps the world. 

"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country," Milk said. More info

(Credit: "Harvey Milk of San Francisco" by Robert Lentz, trinitystores.com)
Christmas offering for Jesus in Love

Kittredge Cherry with Christmas tree

I am collecting a Christmas / Year-End offering to support my work at Jesus in Love for LGBT spirituality and the arts.

 

Please give now at my GoFundMe page

 

Donate button    

Thank you! Accomplishments this year include reaching half a million all-time page views and launching a Spanish blog. More info  

 

Readers say: "Jesus in Love is the most radically progressive and life affirming Christian LGBT site on the Internet that I have ever seen.

Queer Christmas gifts and cards

 

Jonathan & David by Robert Lentz

Want to give a Christmas present that expresses your spirituality? Looking for just the right gift for that LGBTQ loved one? You don't even have to be queer to love the innovative icons on sale at TrinityStores.com.

 

Trinity icons of same-sex couples and queer saints appear all year long as part of the LGBT Saints series at Jesus in Love. More info  

(Credit: "Jonathan and David" by Robert Lentz)  

 

 

 

Gay Nativity Xmas card
Gay/Lesbian Nativity Christmas cards 

 

What if the child of God was born to a lesbian or gay couple? Because, after all, LOVE makes a family, including the Holy Family.

 

Lesbian Nativity scene

My gay and lesbian Nativity Scenes are now available as Christmas cards. Visit card shop 

 

The cards are true to the spirit of Christmas: God's child conceived in an extraordinary way. More info  

 

 

 

Gay Jesus books 

And for the hard-to-please queer who already has everything, check out the Top 20 Gay Jesus books. Nobody has them all!

Click to see past Christmas highlights from the Jesus in Love
Blog:

Christmas favorites from years past 

 

Gay baby Jesus comes out on Christmas billboard in New Zealand

 

Gay Nativity scene in Columbia sparks outrage

Queer Nativity project (7 artists)

 

Hate crime targets gay and lesbian Nativity scene at California church

 

Christina Rossetti: Queer writer of Christmas carols

 

Lesbian couple portrays Madonna (Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin)

Lesbian Madonna, lover and son affirm Christmas (Becki Jayne Harrelson)

Transwoman Jesus tells Christmas story (Jo Clifford)

Conservatives blast inclusive Christmas card (Janet McKenzie)

Inclusive Christmas tree: Anti-gay DVDs become ornaments (Lucinda Naylor)

 

Nursing Madonna honors body, spirit and women

 

Animals make peace at Christmas

Alternative Christmas art shown (9 artists)



Other recent highlights from the Jesus in Love Blog this month:

   

Transgender Day of Remembrance: Nov. 20, 2013

 

My marriage-equality protest photo runs in national magazine

May God bless you during this Advent season of expectation and joy!

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Kittredge Cherry
Publisher, Jesus In Love Newsletter
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           Harvey Milk icon by Robert Lentz    Saints Perpetua and Felicity by Robert Lentz  
 
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Favorites of Jesus in Love readers are pictured here. Above: Sergius & Bacchus, Harvey Milk, Perpetua & Felicity.

 

       Sts. Polyeuct and Nearchus by Robert Lentz    Sts. Brigid & Darlughdach by Robert Lentz    St. Boris and George by Robert Lentz  

 

       Jonathan & David by Robert Lentz    Hildegard of Bingen and Richardis by Lewis Williams    St. Wencelaus and Podiven by Lewis Williams

                    

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