Description
In this moving, passionate reflection upon his own life and ministry, Ralph Basui Watkins examines his relative privilege experienced while growing up in a culture that valued strong masculinity, as exemplified by boys like him. But more than that, he compares his experiences to those of the LGBTQ+ community, deeply considering what it may have been like to grow up without a support system or role models in the church. He shares how he journeyed from a tradition that denied community and belongingness to LGBTQ+ people to a faith-driven acceptance and love for all. He encourages the church to better support all members of the Kingdom of God by focusing on the liberative and loving messages of the Gospel.
Author Bio
Rev. Dr. Ralph Watkins, PhD, DMin, MA, is the Pastor of Wheat Street Baptist Church and the Associate Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA. He was the assistant dean of the African American Church Studies Program and associate professor of society, religion, and Africana studies in the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary.
With over 20 years of pastoral, teaching, and administrative experience, Dr. Ralph Watkins is an active teaching scholar with over 250 publications and conference presentations to his credit, including five books.
In recent years, Watkins has received a Governor's Teaching Fellowship, Lilly Teaching Fellowship, Fulbright Hayes Fellowship for a study in Ghana, a Wabash Teaching Fellowship, and various awards and study grants to study in Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Mexico, and Ethiopia. He is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination and served as the executive pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles under Rev. Dr. John J. Hunter. Prior to FAME he served as Director of Ecclesia / Executive Pastor at The City of Refuge under Bishop Noel Jones in Gardena California.