Christianity, LGBTQ Suicide, and the Souls of Queer Folk

Cody J. Sanders is American Baptist chaplain to Harvard University, advisor for LGBTQ+ affairs in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and pastor to Old Cambridge Baptist Church, Cambridge, MA.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1God, Stories, and Queer SoulsChapter 2Troubled Stories, Best Hopes, Precarious SurvivalChapter 3Theological Ambush Chapter 4Soul ViolenceChapter 5Religious Resistance Chapter 6Holding One’s OwnChapter 7Revisioning the Care of SoulsConclusion Constructive Lessons for Practices of CareBibliography About the Author

Sanders makes a substantial contribution to conversations around LGBTQ people and pastoral care. This book grows out of a research study he completed in which he interviewed nine LGBTQ individuals “for whom life at one time or another came to seem unlivable" (p. 6). Sanders writes that many of his participants "voiced a desire to help churches to become safer, more life-giving places for LGBTQ people" (p. 29). The book focuses on bringing the narratives of these nine participants “into conversation with the literature of philosophy, theology, psychology, and varied other disciplines.” Sanders covers a lot of terrain in helping his communities understand why LGBTQ people consider or attempt suicide. A necessary resource for scholars of religion, divinity students, and students of social work, this book will help those working in pastoral or social contexts better support and affirm the lives of LGBTQ people. Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals.