Called and Queer

“‘Called and Queer’ offers a timely and illuminating exploration of faith and queerness, challenging readers to rethink conventional understandings of religion, gender, and sexual identity. A must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the complexities of LGBTQ identities within religious contexts and the ongoing struggle for acceptance and affirmation.”

— Prof. Zethu Matebeni, South Africa Research Chair in Sexualities, Genders and Queer Studies

“LGBTQ members and clergy in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa continue to use their deep faith to claim space and shape a more just and inclusive Church. I am so grateful for this remarkable book that chronicles such stories. It is an invaluable resource for the Church and society. I highly recommend it!”

— Prof. Dion A. Forster, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Methodist Minister

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. 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. It looks beyond an analysis of a Church based on official doctrinal positions and uncovers the taken-for-granted ways that gender and sex are inscribed in everyday ways of doing and being Church. This book is relevant to students and researchers in gender and sexuality studies, African religious studies, and sociology of religion.

Megan Robertson is a scholar of queer and gender studies in religion. She is a UKRI Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leeds, in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science and a research fellow of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).