On Writing, Coming Out & Finding Belonging – Dr. Gregory Coles

During this podcast season, we’ve been exploring ways our ethnic identity, church traditions and personal experiences can impact our theology, scriptural understanding, and the churches we attend.

Last week, Dr. Vince Bantu talked with us about ancient African Christianity, the Black church and the importance of diverse representation in church leadership (and why that’s key to building an inclusive church culture where everyone feels like they belong).

Today, we’re going to continue digging into this theme of belonging by exploring ways our sexual identities can cause us to feel excluded from churches and loved ones.

And we’re going to specifically address why our LGBTQ+ community can struggle to belong in our churches — and what we need to do to make our churches a more safe and inclusive sanctuary for all, especially for those with marginalized identities.

In this episode, we learn from Dr. Gregory Coles about his love of literature, reciting Hamlet when he was eight years old, pursuing a PhD in English Literature, how he came out to his loved ones and church, why he wrote “Single, Gay, Christian,” how he’s dealt with criticism from Christians about his sexual identity, how he’s processed pain and grief when coming out, and what led him to write his latest book: “No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation,” published by InterVarsity Press.

He also shares awesome advice for finding a church when you don’t feel like you belong — and provides helpful insights on ways to love and care for those who come out to us.

I pray this conversation encourages and empowers all of us to create more loving, safe, and inclusive spiritual homes for all.

You can subscribe or download this episode on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to the video series on YouTube.

You can listen (or download) the complete podcast here:

Here are some video clips from our conversation:

You can catch the full video conversation on writing, coming out and finding belonging here.

Dr. Gregory Coles

Gregory Coles (PhD, Penn State University) is a writer, speaker, and worship leader. His first book, “Single, Gay, Christian,” was a 2017 Foreword INDIES Award Finalist. His latest book “No Longer Strangers: Finding Belonging in a World of Alienation” was published in early 2021. He lives in central Pennsylvania, where he completed a PhD in English from Penn State.

An American author, playwright, and songwriter, Gregory spent fifteen years growing up in the Muslim neighborhoods of Southeast Asia, in the shadow of a golden-domed mosque marked by a spire with a silver crescent moon. The son of two committed Christian teachers, Greg learned from a young age to look for God in the world around him. He read Shakespeare’s Hamlet at age eight, learned to speak several languages, and published his first short story while still in high school. At age eighteen, he returned to the United States to pursue his education.

Gregory is also a contributor to Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Author Quest—a collection of short stories published by Grosset and Dunlap (Penguin Random House)—and a top-five finalist in the international contest to “find the next great Dark Crystal author” for Jim Henson Company’s book series set in that world.