The Gay Preacher's Wife
How My Gay Husband Deconstructed My Life and Reconstructed My Faith
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4.7 • 23 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
The deeply personal memoir of Lydia Meredith, a woman who spent almost thirty years married to a preacher—only to have her husband leave her for a man—and how her life becomes a testimony of tolerance and a theology of love and acceptance.
After being married to Reverend Dennis A. Meredith for almost thirty years, Lydia Meredith discovers a shocking truth: the love of her life left her for a man. Now, Lydia opens up for the first time about how that revelation shattered her world—and strengthened her faith.
With her life turned upside down, Lydia struggled to put the pieces of her broken heart back together and that led her to pursue understanding through an accredited theological education. She wanted a way to put her family back together and she found Jesus’ ministry and teachings were “actually” about teaching tolerance and love for people who are labeled different.
Candid, honest, and incredibly touching, Lydia Meredith shows that faith and perseverance can get you through any challenge life throws your way.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Being gay isn't a spiritual death sentence, Meredith concludes in this brave, impassioned plea to her community. The exposure of sex scandals within American Catholic and Protestant churches is of deep concern to Meredith, founder of the nonprofit Beacon of Hope, which serves poor communities and provides family assistance. She begins this intimate memoir with a plea for the church to break the secrecy and solidarity that supports criminal church members and clergy, and return to the church's roots of serving others, but she quickly moves to her own story. She thought her marriage was perfect until she learned that her husband, a preacher, was gay and had been unfaithful. Despite past clues, like the time her spouse was arrested for soliciting sex from a man, Meredith was shocked. Growing up in the church in the 1950s and 1960s, she explains, homosexuality wasn't discussed, "especially not in the black community." Determined to stay married even after a gonorrhea scare, Meredith and her husband endured therapy and treatment programs, but when her husband's affairs continued and one of her sons came out as gay and HIV positive, Meredith was left with questions that her "traditional brand of Christianity could not answer." She enrolled in theological school to explore the biblical view of homosexuality. She explains how her beliefs evolved and shares powerful reflections on relationships, such as her realization that people mistakenly believe pre-marriage behaviors will disappear after the wedding, and lessons on how to forgive. Meredith's passionate book makes clear that the real sins are those of hate and hypocrisy.
Customer Reviews
Christian need to read this book
I would encourage any Christian to read this it is a well written book on how we should treat people. The flaws inside the church walls. Reading this in 2025 feels like we are still facing a lot of what we see today in the world and among people who call themselves Christian’s.
Great read!
The testimony is memorable. She survived and now she's thriving. She endured fruits of the spirit and God saw her through. It inspired me!