the confession collective

its all marcella's fault really.  i was desperate for conversation, thought, writing, art - really any form of input and interaction - about queer theology and i found marcella althaus-reid's book "the queer god" and hit the "order" button.  and then i found myself gulping up as much of her book as i could process at one time on silent retreat last year.  she is unapologetic, humble, hilarious, brazen, graceful, and deeply invested in what it means to be a whole person in the christian life.  and i'm pretty set on blaming her (attributing to her) the results of her challenge to practice our theology and to practice it in ways that have to do with our whole selves and our whole communities.  here is something else i love about her thoughts: that she is not afraid to tell the truth about the past (hurtful, oppressive, confusing as it may be) and the way it has shaped us, our theology, and our world, but doesn't allow it to define her present action and identity.  she is in the business of being freed - to love, to reclaim, to practice, to create, to define.  so beautiful is this practice.  it seems we feel pretty comfortable in our extremes.  its easy to stand pointing back at the past.  and its fun to stand waiting for the utopic future.  but it is a place of intentional practice to point to both while continuing to walk forward.  its a constant practice of confession.

so my question then with her writing was: how do i practice a queer theology? 

i do a lot of work in the community so i thought about getting a group of folks together to talk about it.  no.  i'm tired of processing theoretically.  and for the same reason i didn't want to write about it.  i wanted some way to practice that is about my body and my relationships and images and the tangible.  and then marcella mentioned several times "the erotic" and the bedroom and the places that are at our core of intimacy and vulnerability and relating to each other.  and it felt really right to think about practicing theology through art.  because art provides a venue for image, for questions, for truth-telling and also imagining, and breaks some of the hierarchies that queer theology seeks to disrupt (like the academic realm).  art is also (or should be) part of a dialogue - not just me and what i think, but me and how i am reacting to input from others and history and the world, and then something i put out in order to engage further in the conversation.  marcella says: "theology is not a private matter and involves more than a domestic contractual act of two people."  so i was also interested in creating a space for more than two people to be practicing together.

"the confession collective" is the result of all that.  and now what we need is "the collective".  the platform is there - who's interested in the art-making, disrupting, creating, relationship questioning practice space?  who's got art that is pushing our theology to be informed from other places besides the power centers and the past?  who's interested in imagining new forms, new structure, and new relationships while honoring all that has informed us?  who's interested in holding space in places that don't usually hold "the queer"? who's interested in using art as a tool for dialogue and feedback loops and viral conversation?  check out the confession collective

Comments

[Jules]

I have to say I love this. I find this inspiring on many levels. In such a way I cannot express exactly what runs through my mind as I read this and the petition you gave through our meeting back in October. It has been something I have been tossing in my head if not daily.

I value what you are offering in the confession collective. If there is some way I can offer my voice I gladly offer it to you.

Many blessings to you my friend!

Jules

[Now and then.]

"from other places besides the power centers and the past?"

I hear you.