OUR TRIBE

Wilson, senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Los Angeles, takes the Bible back from fundamentalists and the Christian right and gives her own interpretation of the text that embraces queer believers. A self-described ecu-terrorist, Wilson is on a mission to invite gay, lesbian, and bisexual people into a church that affirms their sexuality. The MCC was born out of a desperate need to provide its members with a safe place to worship; it serves a diverse congregation from all denominations and lifestylesan inclusive community in terms of sexual preference, race, and class. (Wilson is particularly savvy about race and class and calls comparisons of oppression ``odious.'') She identifies herself as a ``queer millennialist'' who won't accept the promise of heaven as a substitute for justice on earthand reassures others of ``gays goin' to heaven.'' As she once told Jerry Falwell: ``Jerry, the only reason I would want to die before you is that I want to be on heaven's welcome wagon and see the look on your face when you get there.'' Wilson feels it part of her ministry to try heal others of the pain that can come from being closeted and rejected by mainstream biblical interpretations. She urges others to read the Bible through their own lens; here she examines how she believes the Bible has been misused to oppress the gay community. ``Expanding'' the silence found in the Bible, Wilson proposes that Jesus was bisexual; Lazarus was his ``beloved disciple''; and the tales of Jonathan and David and Ruth and Naomi are heterosexually coopted homoerotic texts. Often funny and irreverent, Wilson makes theology personal and readable while bravely pushing the limits of religion and sexuality.