A Gracious Heresy: The Queer Calling of an Unlikely Prophet

In her book, A Gracious Heresy, The Queer Calling of an Unlikely Prophet, Connie Tuttle tells her life story from childhood through confused teenager and young adult to ordained minister. It begins with an admission: I am not perfect. In today's world of “best life now” and “blab and grab” theology, this is a refreshing change of pace. Conceived in an outhouse and raised as a wandering army brat, Connie illustrates how her encounters with other children around the globe taught that, at heart, there's really not much differentiating us from one another. Color, status, orientation, identity, all are irrelevant when it comes to God's love and grace.

Connie tells how in her spiritual journey she was misled, misused, and taken advantage of. But through it all she held God close and kept seeking him. Despite being told time and time again that she was unqualified, unworthy, and unrepentant, Connie followed her calling and persisted.

For the quality of the writing itself, I would strongly recommend this book. While it's an autobiography, it certainly doesn't read like one. The narration is not dry, the dialog doesn't feel forced. It was deeply engaging and hard to put down.

I would encourage anyone who has at some point struggled with the idea of homosexual clergy (or even the relationship between Christianity and homosexuality in general) to read this book. Will it change your mind if you disagree? Probably not. But it will, however, give you a view through the eyes of someone who feels called by God, but is told by religious leaders that she's not worthy, not clean, not able.