A Gracious Heresy

Take one wildly naive, deeply flawed, completely unconventional woman and stir in God. Add to the mix that she is a lesbian, feminist, army brat, and single mom, and what you get is an earnestly radical Christian on a mission. Her response to an insistent call to prophetic ministry is acutely human and terminally messy. Prone to veer off course, she wrestles angels who repeatedly return her to her trajectory. The prophetic ministry to which she is called ends up taking place in hundreds of small daily acts rather than the great act that she had hoped for. ""Connie welcomes us into her personal and communal faith explorations, from her childhood to adulthood. We experience her call to ministry as well as her search for her true identity where she embraces both in the face of systemic opposition."" --Janie Spahr, Presbyterian minister and activist ""Filled with artful description and steeped in the tumultuous social politics that forged her, the Rev. Tuttle's passionate, life-affirming story speaks truth to power. Hers has been a fully-engaged life, from an idyllic childhood in France, where her exuberant appreciation for the world develops, to her youth as an Army brat in the American South."" --Faith Adiele, author of Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun ""Prophetic voices come from the margins, and Connie Tuttle's is no exception. Joyful, radically inclusive, and infused with holiness. Love, human and divine, triumphs on every page of this memoir. Thanks to Tuttle, I'm convinced the prophetic tradition is alive and well."" --Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, author of Swinging on the Garden Gate ""Connie Tuttle's memoir of her nontraditional spiritual trajectory, A Gracious Heresy, is a delight to read--entertaining, funny, provocative, captivating, and heartfelt. This memoir will not disappoint any who value a good storyteller, containing as it does extraordinary stories extraordinarily well told."" --Chris Glaser, author and activist ""In A Gracious Heresy, Connie Tuttle invites readers into her story of call. More than a memoir of church and justice, A Gracious Heresy is a spiritual odyssey taking the reader on a journey past historical events, across international geographies, from girlhood escapades to adult decisions. . . . Everyone called to a life before God should read this book. A Gracious Heresy stands as the most authentic rendering of the spiritual wrestling that queer ministers experience."" --Rev. Monica A. Coleman, Ph.d, professor at Claremont School of Theology, author of Bipolar Faith: A Black Woman's Journey with Depression and Faith Connie L. Tuttle is the pastor of Circle of Grace, a small, progressive, ecumenical, feminist, Christian house church in Atlanta, Georgia. After seminary and before founding the church with a group of spiritual renegades, she directed the Atlanta Hunger Walk and later worked with the Southern Prisoners' Defense Committee. She is committed to social justice and has a passion for cooking and providing hospitality.