This book is the first in-depth study of the lived experiences of queer Christian clergy in an African context. Using a queer lived religion framing, it draws on ethnographic research to analyse how six LGBTQ clergy understand and practice their vocation in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA). Seemingly marginalised in a denomination which maintains that marriage is only between one man and one woman, this book explores why LGBTQ clergy are motivated to live out their calling in the Church and how they make sense of their positions within it. In doing so, it looks beyond an analysis of a Church based on its official and doctrinal institutional positions on queer people and sexualities and, instead, uncovers the taken-for-granted ways that gender and sex are inscribed in 'the way we do things around here'. This book is relevant to students and researchers in gender and sexuality studies, African religious studies, and sociology of religion.

Offers the first book-length study of queer clergy in an African context Provides an innovative example of queering an African church in both Methodist and black consciousness traditions Broadens the conversation about sex in Church in ways that go beyond questions of same-sex marriage and ordination

Autorentext

Megan Robertson is a scholar of queer and gender studies in religion. She is currently a UKRI (previously Marie Sk odowska-Curie) Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leeds, where she is based in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science and affiliated with the Centre for Religion and Public Life. Additionally, she is a research fellow of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape. Robertson holds a PhD from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa (2020) and has published widely on gender, sexuality and Christianity in Southern Africa.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Church of Mandela: Black Methodism and Queer Identity.- Chapter 3: Church of Purity: Gender Binaries and Gendered Bodies.- Chapter 4: Church of Ecclesia: Sex, Love and Marriage.- Chapter 5: Conclusion: Queering the MCSA.