Chris Glaser has been an activist in the movement for full inclusion of LGBT Christians in the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its theological roots lie primarily in the Scottish Reformat ...

, or PCUSA, for over 30 years. He is currently a minister in the

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming Christian denominations, LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. The ...

, or MCC.

Education

Glaser graduated from

Yale University Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregational church, Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the pr ...

with a M.Div. degree in 1977. While still a student there in 1974, he formed a support group for gay Christians. In 1976, during an intern at

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, he founded a peer counseling service for gay and lesbian people.Chris Glaser's biography
on his website, accessed 10 August 2009. From 1976 to 1977, he served as the only openly gay man on the Presbyterian Task Force to Study

Homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

, and the rejection of its gay tolerant conclusions by the Church meant that Glaser himself was refused ordination as clergy by the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1978.

Presbyterian ministry

After leaving Yale without his ordination, he created and served (from 1978 to 1987) as Director of Lazarus Project, a ministry of reconciliation between the church and the lesbian and gay community in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, funded by the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

. He also worked with as a national coordinator and editor for Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (now known as

More Light Presbyterians More Light Presbyterians is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing and ensuring the full participation of LGBTQIA+ people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). As of 2024, the organization's membership includes over 330 congregations and thou ...

) and their newsletter, ''More Light Update''.

MCC ministry

He began serving MCC

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

as Interim Pastor on November 1, 2006, having been ordained by this denomination. He has also served as Interim

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of Christ Covenant MCC in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur () is a city and the county seat of DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

Interim Minister at Virginia-Highland Church (2009-2010)

Rev. Glaser served as interim pastor of Virginia-Highland Church in Atlanta, GA from January 1, 2009, until mid-201

Writings

Glaser is a leading writer in the field of

Queer Theology Queer theology is a theological method that has developed out of the philosophical approach of queer theory, built upon scholars such as Marcella Althaus-Reid, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Judith Butler. Queer theolog ...

. His published works include *''Uncommon Calling'' 1988 *''Come Home!'' 1990 *''Coming Out to God'' 1991 *''The Word Is Out'' 1994 *''Coming Out as Sacrament'' 1998 *''Communion of Life-Meditations for the New Millennium'' 1999 *''Reformation of the Heart: Seasonal Meditations by a Gay Christian With a Scripture Index'' 2001 *''As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage'' Seabury Press, 2009 Between 1998 and 2002, the year it ceased publication, Glaser edited ''Open Hands'', a quarterly magazine for congregations welcoming of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people in seven mainline

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

denominations in the United States and Canada. He has also published articles in such national publications as ''Christianity & Crisis'', ''The Christian Century'', and ''The Advocate'', ''Newsweek''.

References

External links

Chris Glaser's webpage
*An archive of articles from ''Open Hands'' can be foun

Metropolitan Community Church San Francisco webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Chris 20th-century American Presbyterian ministers 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American Presbyterian ministers American gay writers American LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ Calvinist and Reformed ministers Living people Metropolitan Community Church clergy Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders Queer theologians Yale Divinity School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)