Title:	Just As I Am - A Practical Guide to Being Out, Proud, and Christian
Author:	The Rev. Robert Williams
Published by:	Crown Publishers, 1992
ISBN:	0-517-58539-1 [hardcover, 310 pages]

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When you came out as gay, you may have felt you had to leave God and faith behind. God may have seemed an avenging father, not a source of solace and strength. Now, in Just as I Am, the Rev. Robert Williams shows how you can reclaim Christianity as part of a proud gay identity and join with Jesus Christ in a passionate spiritual journey.

The Rev. Robert Williams, the first openly gay man to be ordained as an Episcopal priest, provides a hands-on guide to using your special gifts to practice a distinctively "queer" Christianity - to be an out, proud, passionate Christian.

Drawing on the insights of black and feminist theologians, Father Williams gives you the tools you need to renew your gay spirit, from making the Bible your own and learning to pray again to seeing sex as a sacrament. With Just As I Am:

• you'll find sustenance in the Bible - and even positive images of same-sex love;
• you'll explore the ways lesbian and gay people differ from heterosexuals not only sexually, but in the realm of the spirit;
• you'll integrate ancient goddess religions and contemporary Christianity, with the two coming together in the symbol of Mary, the Mother of Jesus;
• you'll supplement the lessons of Twelve-Step programs with the joys of lesbian and gay Christianity;
• you'll discover how AIDS can be healed through prayer - because God is greater than AIDS;
• you'll receive corroboration for your gay life directly from Christ - because Jesus had a male lover.

According to Robert Williams, Just As I Am "is a call to you to join this process of recovery and revival of our tribal spirituality, to be a queer Christian shaman ... I call on you, as you read this book, to come with me on this journey just as you are, bringing along your sexuality, your passion, your personality, and your queerness as you answer the call of the Christ who loves you and desires you just as you are."

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