Open bookcover

Open

A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Sexuality in the Heartland
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
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Description

Open is a story of coming out as a gay man while working as a Baptist youth minister in Texas. Open is also the story of a Christian evangelical family living in the American heartland who must grapple with the son who has challenged their beliefs. Set in the front lines of the struggle for LGBT equality in the 21st century, Open explores the universal question of how we as humans live true to ourselves as our network of relations pushes back. Open is the story of how one man succeeded - living openly as a gay man and as a Christian minister in the Bible Belt.

Product Details

PublisherE. Scott Jones
Publish DateSeptember 04, 2018
Pages288
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
EAN/UPC9781943988105
Dimensions8.5 X 5.5 X 0.6 inches | 0.7 pounds

About the Author

E. Scott Jones grew up in a small town in Oklahoma knowing since the age of five that he wanted to be a preacher. Then at age 29, he came out as a gay man, while serving as a youth minister at a Baptist church in Texas. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and received his Ph. D. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. He has previously pastored churches in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. Today Scott is the Senior Minister of the First Central Congregational Church in Omaha, Nebraska and a lecturer in the Philosophy Department of Creighton University. He and his husband Michael are the delighted parents of a toddler son. Scott is an accomplished activist with keen insights on life in the American heartland.

Reviews

"Scott's is a story at once both familiar and unique. He is a great story teller because we are invited to reflect how his story is our story, and even a part of the Sacred Story of God's dance with each of us."--Michael Piazza, founding pastor of Cathedral of Hope and author of Gay by God.

"This is a touching memoir--a coming out story in the best sense of the genre. This is an important book that I hope is widely read."-Sharon Groves, Vice-President for Partner Engagement at Auburn Seminary and former Director of the Religion and Faith Program at the Human Rights Campaign.

"Scott Jones has given us an important first-person account of queer Christian life in Middle America. This is a tale of the personal and political courage it takes to face moral entrepreneurs who equate homosexuality with terrorism and peddle other anti-gay snake oil. Jones's story inspires!"- Carol Mason, author of Oklahomo: Lessons in Unqueering America

"Open is hard to put down, Scott Jones is unflinching in his candidness about his coming out journey as a man of faith. As you read his story you get no respite from feeling deeply. I cried, I laughed, I cheered him on for his bravery. It was an eye opening narrative, even for me a queer woman of color like myself."-Ruth Marimo, author of OUTsider: Crossing Borders. Breaking Rules. Gaining Pride.

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