Queer Theology Podcast

What does forgiveness really mean, and who gets to decide when someone deserves it? In this episode, we unpack the complicated relationships with forgiveness, shaped by our experiences with Christianity, family conflict, and the realities of harm and injustice. We stress that there is a difference between forgiveness, repentance, accountability, and repair. Oftentimes, religious teachings about fo...

We're tackling the intersections of AI, faith, and spirituality in this episode! Yes, we are going there because it has become more and more common to hear about folks using AI as a way of discerning theology. But what happens when we outsource our theological thinking to technology? Something that has always been an issue as theology has been outsourced to pastors and other sources of religious a...

We return to a familiar passage this week; 2 Timothy 1:6–14. This passage focuses on the reminder that God gives us a spirit of power, love, and self-control - not timidity! And what a powerful reminder that is for us today. It is especially pertinent as we move through times of vocational discernment, working on embracing our gifts, and overcoming the fear of failure. It takes so much courage to...

In this episode, we queer Luke 15:1–10 and Jesus' parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. This is a familiar parable but what if we reimagine what it means to seek, find, and celebrate the people who are hurting or searching for belonging? Rather than viewing these stories solely through the lens of evangelism and conversion, what if we consider how faith calls us to meet people where they a...

There seems to be so much fear out there right now and Fr. Shannon takes this episode to explore the role fear plays in our faith, our bodies, and our relationships. Reflecting on his own upbringing in a church rooted in fear (going to hell, being left behind in the rapture, and even the Y2K end times!) he considers the tension between believing that God is in control and living as though the worl...

We queer the passage, Galatians 1:11–24 for this week's episode. Through the lens of redemption, transformation, and trusting your own calling we reflect on past versions of faith that now feel uncomfortable or harmful, and how Paul's story offers a powerful reminder that our past does not have to dictate our future. We also invite you to move towards a faith that better reflects the teachings of...

It's a special episode this week as we celebrate the launch of our brand-new book, "Reading the Bible Through Queer Eyes: Good News for LGBTQ+ People from Genesis to Revelation." We have been doing this work for more than a decade and we're super excited to finally see it in book form! If you've been here for a while, you'll know we've always been big proponents of storytelling, telling YOUR story...

This week we queer Matthew 20:1–16, the familiar parable of the laborers in the vineyard, and uncover a lesson that is deeply concerned with labor, wages, economic justice, and generosity. This passage is often taught as a story about salvation and getting into heaven, but when we explore what emerges when we take Jesus' words about workers, wages, and equality seriously, it shows again how the go...

For this episode, we queer the text from the Wisdom of Solomon. This is a deuterocanonical Jewish text that reflects on wisdom as something active, relational, and continually calling us toward growth. This is one of those passages that just seems to queer itself by inviting us to seek wisdom with the ongoing work of learning, internalizing, and living out what we discover as we seek wholeness and...

We queer two powerful biblical texts—Isaiah 56 and Romans 11—to explore who gets to belong, what salvation means, and what Scripture has to say about immigrants and outsiders. We unpack the Bible's repeated call to welcome and care for immigrants, challenge the ways anti-immigrant and white nationalist Christianity distort that message, and reflect on what it means to live out faith through activi...

In this episode, we look at Ruth 1:1–18 and the powerful, often-overlooked queerness of Ruth and Naomi's relationship. Rather than reading the passage primarily as a lesbian love story, we consider how Ruth's radical commitment to Naomi challenges traditional ideas about family, loyalty, and belonging. There is a celebration of chosen family and the freedom to build deep, lifelong commitments with...

In this episode, we tackle the complicated question of when to stay, when to take a break, and when to leave a religious tradition. Our own journeys are very different, but there are definitely similarities. There was a point when we started questioning Christianity, stepping away from church, wrestling with doubt, and finding more expansive ways of understanding faith. Fr. Shay shares how coming...

Brian was recently interviewed by Brent Saccucci (@brentsaccucci) from the University of Lethbridge to talk about Queer Theology and how it differs from affirmative ministry and we're going to share that interview with y'all! In this interview, Brian challenges the idea that queer people need to justify their existence within faith traditions and explains the difference between affirmative faith a...

Because we're the QueerTheology Podcast, of course we're going to dive into Isaiah 1:10–18. This is a familiar and powerful passage. Just the words, "Sodom and Gomorrah" evoke a reaction because of their use in evangelical Christian religion. But we invite you to challenge common assumptions about their so-called "sin." We explore how Isaiah shifts the focus away from ritual and religious performa...

This episode features a powerful conversation between Rev. Don Abram and Brian on reimagining care as an abundant resource rather than a scarce commodity. Don Abram (@towardpride) is a Chicago-based social innovator and founder of Toward Pride, leading work that advances the well-being of Black LGBTQ+ communities through partnerships with civic, cultural, and community institutions. Don shares how...

In this episode, Fr. Shannon reflects on growing up in a high-control evangelical religion where every aspect of faith and how he was supposed to show up, was laid out for him. It was a long journey to untangle those deeply ingrained beliefs, but when we explore how harmful messages and unrealistic expectations can shape anyone's spiritual life, not just those from high-control religious spaces, t...

What do you do when you come across difficult passages in the Bible? In this episode, Fr. Shannon explores how to engage with challenging texts, especially those often used to condemn LGBTQ people, as well as passages that portray God as violent, or seem to support slavery, or take a negative view of sex and the body. While some see these verses as a reason to abandon the Bible altogether, Fr. Sha...

Fr. Shannon is joined by author Catherine Meeks on the pod this week to talk about self-interrogation, discernment, and what it means to move beyond being an ally toward becoming a committed co-resistor and fellow pilgrim in the work of collective liberation. Catherine Meeks, PhD, is the founder of the Turquoise & Lavender Institute for Transformation and Healing and a nationally recognized leader...

Brian is joined by his longtime friend, Michael R. Speciàle (@ speciale.mr ) on this pod this week for an interview that is funny, provocative, and moving. Michael is a writer, performer, and cultural strategist based in Los Angeles. He grew up between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington, converted himself to the Mormon Church at fifteen, faithfully served a mission in Paraguay, and left th...

In this episode, Fr. Shannon reflects on the grief and complexity of navigating a strained relationship with family after coming out. After a recent trip home, he shares the painful realization that no amount of patience or perfectly crafted theological arguments can change people who are unwilling to change. It's ok to grieve the family relationships we hoped for while still honoring our own need...

Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez (@timothy.s.rodriguez) joins Brian on pod this week to discuss his debut memoir, "Conversion Therapy Dropout,"  and his journey through eight years of conversion therapy, evangelical megachurch culture, sobriety, and spiritual reconstruction. Tim spent almost a decade in gay conversion therapy- all while working behind the scenes at some of the most influential Evangeli...

June 14, 2026 Libsyn:  Timestamp:    Reclaiming Ritual   In this episode, Fr. Shannon reflects on how we can reconnect with spiritual practices after being hurt by faith communities or religious experiences. Following a personal experience that left him with hurt feelings (see episode 642!), he realized the importance of intentionally creating space for meaningful spiritual rituals. Fr. Shannon ex...

We're so excited to welcome comedian, author, and internet storyteller Kevin James Thornton (@kevinjamesthornton) to the Podcast this week to talk about his new memoir, Big Gay Baby: On Beginnings, Endings, and Being Unapologetically Yourself. Kevin reflects on the accidental TikTok videos that connected thousands of people through shared experiences of growing up in fundamentalist Christianity, t...

On this week's episode, Fr. Shannon responds to listener questions that touch on some of the core themes of his (and Brian's!) work and ministry. He explores what Jesus meant by the "narrow path," reframing it not as a difficult and exclusionary road toward a distant heavenly reward, but as the daily work of building community, loving our neighbors, and helping bring about the kingdom of Heaven he...

Brian is joined by long-time friend, Jason Tseng (they/them), @queeriously on the pod this week for a joyful and inspiring conversation about queer spirituality, storytelling, and moving through the world as a queer Christian. Jason, a queer, non-binary Chinese-American playwright based in New York City, talks about the different stories from their life that led to writing plays, including Fear an...