Tag Archives: Sexuality

Better Man

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

For at least a few moments, before we had children, Carri and I had this one perfect moment where we had a sense of control about who our kids would be. See, we adopted through foster care, and as a part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Sexuality | Tagged children, Feminism, Feminist, Freedom, gender, Genders, Kathryn Bond Stockton, Masculinities, Masculinity, Men, Parenting, Queer, Sermon, Sermons, Sex, Sexuality, Teenagers, Teens, Women, Youth | Leave a comment

Queer More Than Memory (or, the closets made from the words we didn’t yet have)

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

This post is a companion piece to a post I wrote in February 2015, “A Conversation Begins with a Lie…” Like a lot of moments in my life, I recently realized something important while listening to the Indigo Girls. Carri … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Aging, Be More Gay, Bisexuality, Coming Out, Delight, Free, Freedom, Gay, Genderqueer, Growing Older, Indigo Girls, LGBTQ, Memory, Middle Aged, Monogamy, Non-Binary, Nostalgia, Poly, Polyamorous, Power, Queer, Queer Joy, Queerness, Sexualities, Sexuality | Leave a comment

Gay Enough

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

My partner Carri and I were pretty early in our relationship when we started to wonder if we were “gay enough.” It wasn’t a new question for me; as a bi-identified person, more than a few lesbians have over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Acceptance, Beloved, Bisexuality, Community, Enough, Friendship, Gay, Genderqueer, identity, Lesbians, LGBTQ, Love, Queer, Sexual orientation, Sexuality, transgender | 1 Comment

All or Nothing

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

It was 1866, and the work for women’s suffrage was at a crossroads. The civil war had ended the year before. Loss and grief were everywhere. Over 10,000 battles had been fought, over 600,000 died. What it means for two sides … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged compromise, ethical, ethics, Feminism, gender, harm reduction, Race, Racism, rules, Sexuality, voting, Women, women's rights, women's suffrage | Leave a comment

How It Might Have Gone (My Universalist Dream Ballet Version of the Brett Kavanaugh Senate Hearings)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I was imagining all day yesterday how it might have gone. I keep thinking of it like my Universalist-Dream-Ballet version of the horrifying/captivating Senate Hearings. That is, a version of events fueled by my most idealistic notions of redemption and reconciliation. And, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged #MeToo, Forgiveness, Healing, Judaism, Reconciliation, Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, Teshuvah, Wholeness, Yom Kippur | 2 Comments

#MeToo

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Listen to this sermon on podcast here. See the whole service on video here. Sermon – March 25, 2018 To be honest, before I found Unitarian Universalism, I thought all religion was patriarchal, and sexist. Finding this faith nearly 20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Covenant, Justice, Sermons, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged #MeToo, BlackLivesMatter, Boundaries, Confession, Courageous Love, Justice, Liberation, Ministry, Misconduct, Racial Justice, Racism, Sermon, Sermons, Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, Sexuality education, Sin, Theology, Universalism | 2 Comments

When God Had a Body

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Text: The Education of God – The Incarnation by David Bumbaugh Sermon “When God Had a Body,” December 11, 2016 New Testament scholar and sometimes-skeptic Bart Ehrman tells the story of one special person who lived about 2000 years ago. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons | Tagged Bodies, Body, God, Immanence, Incarnation, Jesus, Love, Presence, Sexuality, Theology | Leave a comment

Anger, Love, and the Hope for Change

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

For a month about simplicity (our church monthly theme), the current cultural moment is anything but simple. Since the news broke on Sunday about the terrible shooting in Orlando, I’ve been back and forth with all sorts of emotions: angry, sad, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Brokenness, Courageous Love, Faith, Freedom, GLBTQ, Gun Culture, Guns, Homophobia, Hope, Injustice, Interfaith, Justice, Love, Prayer, Racism, Sexism, Sexuality, Violence | 3 Comments

Pro Life, a short reflection April 2016

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I was a sophmore in high school, and the assignment was to write a pro or con paper on a controversial topic. I picked abortion. Growing up Catholic, I identified strongly as “pro-life,” and so my paper worked to counter … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Sexuality | Tagged Abortion, Choice, Life, OWL, Pregnancy, Pro-Choice, Sex Ed, Sexuality, Sexuality education, Theological Anthropology, Theology | Leave a comment

Good Sex: A sermon exploring a liberal ethic and theology of sexuality

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Listen to the podcast for this sermon here. Reading – Honoring the Body – Sarah Gibb Millspaugh adapted from the words of Stephanie Paulsell In her book Honoring the Body, Stephanie Paulsell writes of “the mending power of sexual intimacy” with … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged Justice, OWL, Sermon, Sermons, Sexuality, Sexuality education, Theology | Leave a comment