An LGBTQIA2S Hymnal

Over at Anglican Samizdat, you will find a post on "Songs For The Holy Other" which is essentially a hymnal for the "LGBTQIA2S" (don't ask me what all those initials stand for). I thought I would expand it a little bit by giving you a list of the song titles and an example of the text to one of their hymns.

A group called "The Hymn Society" produced this set of songs. Their goals are rather obvious.

To access a PDF copy I had to submit name, church, and e-mail information which will be used by The Hymn Society in order to send e-mails, and that information will be shared with other organizations, groups which most likely have a similar mission to The Hymn Society.

I created a new e-mail address which I quickly deleted.

Here is their introduction to the hymnal,

We who have been labeled as “wholly other” are claiming our holiness, and reclaiming our otherness as a prophetic witness to the church. Hymn writer and theologian Rev. Dr. Carl P. Daw, Jr., FHS writes:“Human otherness (of whatever kind) provides a sacramental reminder of the ultimate otherness of God, and openness to human otherness has the potential to enlarge our perception of and receptivity to divine otherness. It is also an essential element of human maturity to recognize otherness, i.e. to know where the self ends and otherness begins, whether that otherness be other people or non-human objects. From a theological perspective, “otherness” is a necessary dimension of themovement from the disappointments of self-sufficiency to the assurances of trust in God.”The gifts God has given us are not in spite of our otherness, our queerness, our LGBTQIA2S+ identities, but rather our identities are inextricably tied up in our God-given gifts, and are, in and of themselves, a gift to the church, as we reflect the rainbow diversity of God’s creation.This collection emerged from a desire to make queer hymns — hymns by, for, or about the LGBTQIA2S+ community — accessible to a wider range of congregations. While the idea emerged from the membership of the The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada

1. A Hymn for Self-Acceptance 
2. Alchemy of Healing 
3. All Belong Here 
4. All Colors of the Rainbow 
5. As Colors in the Sky 
6. Blest Be the Holy Other 
7. Christ Our Health 
8. Fearfully, Wonderfully Made 
9. For all the Children 
10. For Those Who Suffered 
11. God Calls You Good 
12. God Gave This World 
13. God Loves Us in Mysterious Ways 
14. God of Many Faces
15. God of Queer Trangressive Space
16. God of Queer Transgressive Spaces
17. God’s Limitless Imagination 
18. God’s Love is Boundless 
19. I Know That God Loves Me 
20. I Met a Stranger on the Road 
21. I Shall Not Leave from by Your Side 
22. Impartial, Compassionate God
23. Jesus, You Have Truly Called Us 
24. Like the Weeping Willow 
25. Love Astounding 
26. Love’s Rage and Grief 
27. Lovely, Needy People
28. New Patterns for Living
29. O God, Bestow Your Love and Care 
30. Pour Your Freedom Over Me 
31. Queerly Beloved 
32. Quirky Queer and Wonderful 
33. Rest in Power 
34. Rise Up Kim 
35. Sing a New World into Being 
36. The Dove Will Fly on Mended Wing 
37. The Heart Will Choose the One It Loves 
38. The Kingdom of God is the Queerest of Nations 
39. The Love That Goes Unspoken 
40. Transfigure Me 
41. We Are a Rainbow 
42. We Are The Hidden Slats 
43. We’ll Build a World 
44. Weary Seekers
45. When Comes the Time 
46. Who Is the Alien
47. With Open Hearts

Here is an example of the theo-illogic one can find in this songbook,

"Quirky, Queer and Wonderful" 

(Refrain) Quirky, queer, and wonderful, distinct, unique, and odd... all of our humanity reveals the face of God 

1. No normal can encompass or comprehend the range of all the kinds of people that God created strange! (Refrain)

2. From Jesus we learn riddles he said the last are first He tweaked received religion with roles that he reversed. (Refrain)

3. To Peter God presented untouchable cuisine and said, "Do not call dirty what I declare is clean." (Refrain)

4. In Christ the false divisions of gender, class, and race can never separate us from God's abundant grace. (Refrain)

5. The many parts that form us each serve a different role In Christ we are one body, made holy good and whole. (Refrain) 

God reveals the face of God.

Verse three is a classic example of revisionism. Acts 10:9-16 involves Peter's vision of unclean foods which God commands him to eat. God therefore is the one who decides what is clean and fit to eat. In this hymn, the suggestion is that LGBTQIA2S sexual activity has been declared clean, but by whom? Man has declared that such acts are "clean". God has done nothing of the sort. The dietary laws were cleaned up, but not the sexual morality codes regarding same-sex activity or cross dressing etc.

This song book shows how far some people will go to justify sinful behavior.

I have found that it is far easier to admit my sins, to confess them, and to pray for forgiveness than it is to rationalize them away.

I suggest the LGBTQIA2S do the same.