March 2, 2015

"The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, an Episcopal priest and author who challenged racism, war and religious complacency in the 1960s and ’70s..."

"... and was one of the first prominent clergymen in America to acknowledge his homosexuality publicly, died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 91."
Wearing his clerical collar, accompanied by a jazz guitar or a blues horn, he recited talking-with-God prayers from his 1965 best-selling book, “Are You Running With Me, Jesus?”

“It’s morning, Jesus,” he’d say. “I’ve got to move fast — get into the bathroom, wash up, grab a bite to eat, and run some more. Where am I running? You know these things I can’t understand. It’s not that I need to have you tell me. What counts most is just that somebody knows, and it’s you. That helps a lot. So I’ll follow along, O.K.? But lead, Lord. Now I’ve got to run. Are you running with me, Jesus?”

(Skip ahead 4 minutes if you don't want to hear the somewhat tedious intro music... actually scroll in 5 minutes to get to Boyd.)

11 comments:

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I just hate it when these bible thumpers insert themselves into politics. Haven't they ever heard of the wall between church and State?

PB said...

That's all well and good, but for how many years did he deceive his church and parishioners? If he became a priest with the knowledge he was gay, that's a deep corruption. There are and were other Christian churches he could have joined and not been dishonest. This is the sort of thing that has destroyed the Episcopal Church in American.

CWJ said...

"The Rev. Malcolm Boyd, an Episcopal priest and author who challenged racism, war and religious complacency in the 1960s and ’70s..."

Well there you go. He stood strong and proud against racism, war and religious complacency. What a hero! It''s a miracle he wasn't beheaded before dying ijn bed.

traditionalguy said...

OMG, a priest that is a sinner. But that way he fits in better with the congregation half of which areserial heterosexual adultery sinners.

I just want to know if he was a loud enough singer of the great Anglican Hymnal that he could be heard clearly over the pipe organ.

Lydia said...

The linked NY Times article says: "Only a year after Father Boyd publicly disclosed his homosexuality [which was in 1976], his church began to ordain women and openly gay people."

Is that correct about gay people being ordained starting then? I thought it was much later than that, not until the 1990s at least, and maybe not until the early 2000s.

Michael K said...

The gay bishops and seminaries have pretty much destroyed the Catholic Church, too. A book about it.

Celibacy is part of it as that makes opportunities for lefty gays. Needless to say, they are not celibate. The Greek Orthodox clergy marry and have had no scandal.

etbass said...

Celibacy, an unbiblical notion, surely has provided a cover for gay men with the ruination of the Catholic clergy as an institution. It's so obvious it needs no argument. That the Church continues to require it shows the hierarchy is dominated by gays.

James Pawlak said...

HIV/AIDS?

Quaestor said...

Speaking as a former churchgoer (I was never a Believer, but not for lack of trying) my Sunday schooling would force me to conclude Rev.Boyd has his theological cart before the horse. "Are You Running with Me, Jesus?" Get off your high horse, Rev, the correct question is "Am I Running with You, Jesus?"

Jason said...

So he was a UU?

Paco Wové said...

"Are you running with me, Jesus?"

Yeah, c'mon, Jesus! Keep up!