Queering Wesley, Queering the Church

A few weeks ago, theologically conservative United Methodists launched the Global Methodist Church. This is a glaring example that the ongoing controversy on LGBTQ+ theology is a closely felt topic for the entire Wesleyan tradition. Unfortunately, the separation of the United Methodist Church is already happening over the question of LGBTQ+ theology. Although the issue has caused serious pain and urgently requires theological discussion, it is still hard to find theological pieces on LGBTQ+ theology from the Wesleyan perspective. In this respect, Keegan Osinski’s Queering Wesley, Queering the Church is a timely book for Wesleyan scholars and churches. The goal of the book is to offer a theological reflection on an LGBTQ+ Theology from the Wesleyan perspective.

In each chapter, Osinski examines and interprets a sermon of John Wesley. (John Wesley’s sermons are collected online, or in Albert Outler’s John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology [Abingdon Press, 1991].) While providing faithful interpretations of Wesley’s sermons, the author also surfaces new insights by drawing on her queer experience and perspective. For example, in reading Wesley’s sermon The New Birth, she argues that LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church can revitalize the Wesleyan tradition; queer experience can carry God’s transformative power toward holiness. Osinski points out that Wesley believes that all people are created in the image of God so that all people are “capable of holiness and worthy of love as they are” (23). Because everybody is created in God’s image, she asserts that the Wesleyan churches should usher a new birth to LGBTQ+ people, rather than degrading their dignity.

Osinski argues that, in Wesley’s sermon Circumcision of the Heart, Wesleyan holiness is portrayed as fundamentally open to the love of God, rather than the restrictive legalism of old religious laws. In the Wesleyan tradition, faith is “a transformative trust in all the various and mysterious actions of God” (32). As a result, Wesley’s emphasis on holiness leads Wesleyan siblings to be circumcised by love, not by legalism. She further points out that a queer embrace of pleasure is a mark of holiness because pleasure is a byproduct of true and unselfish love in Wesley’s theology (37).

Interpreting Wesley’s sermon On Perfection, Osinski explains that Wesley’s definition of perfection is based on “pure love filling the heart, and governing all the words and actions” (41). Because Wesleyan perfection implicates our lives and our world views, she believes that Wesleyan perfection should be defined not only biblically, but also rationally, ethically, and socially. Consequently, she suggests that the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people is related to the church’s capacity for holiness, because inclusion of LGBTQ+ people is an expression of caring for marginalized people.

In addition to the doctrine of holiness, Osinski deals with another key concept of Wesley’s theology in her interpretation of Wesley’s sermon Free Grace. As a faithful follower of Arminian theology, Wesley argues that the doctrine of predestination destroys God’s justice, mercy, and truth (53). According to Osinski, instead of advocating the doctrine of predestination, Wesley famously contends that the grace of God “is free in all, and free for all” (50). Highlighting God’s free grace in Wesley’s sermon, Osinski points out that all God’s creation is good, including LGBTQ+ people, and that no one is predestined for hell. Looking at God’s free grace above all, she urges Wesleyans to be open to God’s new creative possibilities in love.

In dealing with Wesley’s sermon A Caution Against Bigotry, Osinski reminds us that Jesus and Wesley both were permissive when faced with issues of exorcists acting outside of their respective groups (Mark 9:38-39). She reminds us that Wesley pleads with us to “encourage whomsoever God is pleased to employ” (72). Wesley’s interpretation of Mark 9:38-39 is also reflected in his personal diary. In it, Wesley recounts a conversation where he was asked what to make of Pentecostal Christians—his verdict was that they must be judged by their spiritual fruits. Because Jesus and Wesley teach us to be accepting of people who serve others in the name of Jesus, she claims that the bishops and Wesleyan Christians do not have a right to forbid the ordination of faithful LGBTQ+ Christians. Wesley’s teaching on bigotry clearly shows that there is room in the church for diverse beliefs, bodies, and practices.

In general, I think that all her interpretations provide fresh and faithful readings of Wesley’s sermons. The strength of the book is that it not only provides a faithful reading of Wesley’s sermons, but also utilizes contemporary queer theories and theologies in a way that is fully harmonious with Wesleyan teaching. In addition, the book engages with relatively uncommon sermons, not only Wesley’s famous sermons. Because Methodist/Wesleyan theology is mainly based on the sermons of John Wesley, I believe that her method—offering interpretations of Wesley’s sermons from the queer perspective to convince Wesleyan readers that the queer people can bring rich gifts to the Wesleyan churches—is excellent. Because the book successfully brings comfort, encouragement, and theological reflection to the Wesleyan tradition, I highly recommend this book for Wesleyan scholars and believers all around the world.

Heejun Yang is pastor of the United Methodist Church in the North Carolina Conference.

Heejun Yang

Date Of Review:

May 27, 2022