On Max Lucado Preaching At Washington National Cathedral

February 11, 2021 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

There has been a bit of controversy over the past week about the Washington National Cathedral’s decision to invite evangelical author Max Lucado to preach last weekend. Lucado is notoriously non-affirming of LGBTQ+ peoples inclusion in the church, and the National Cathedral has been a beacon of LGBTQ+ inclusion for decades. Many LGBTQ+ individuals and allies were deeply hurt by the invitation, and demanded that the Cathedral retract the invitation because of Lucado’s damaging teachings. I have spent some time... Read more

Digital Deception: How We Ended Up Here And What We Can Do To Save Ourselves

January 17, 2021 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

The American experiment has reached its moment of reckoning, and we seem completely unprepared to make the right choice. Our differences have been so exacerbated in this moment by the echo chambers of social media that we are living in two fundamentally different realities. As our lives have gotten less personal and more digital, we have seen the erosion of a sense of common purpose or meaning with our neighbors, which has too easily enabled us to begin to demonize... Read more

America’s Last Stand

January 7, 2021 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

It’s hard to describe the feeling of sitting in my room, just a few blocks from Capitol, watching the livestream of the joint session of congress to certify the election of Joe Biden, when all of the sudden entire legislative branch of our nation was rushed out of the chambers because a violent mob of domestic terrorists had breached the Capitols security. After watching a few moments of President Trumps speech, I knew that Wednesday, January 6, 2021 would be... Read more

On The Fall Of American Democracy

January 5, 2021 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

We truly are on the brink of the collapse of American democracy. I know it sounds alarmist, but it’s finally becoming clear to me how other nations and empires have fallen in history. Dramatic assaults on their foundations are done in full view of the public that have grown weary of caring all that much. People believe they are invincible and that their nation could never actually dissolve into a dystopian nightmare. And then someday they snap out of the... Read more

An Inclusive Interpretation of Biblical “Clobber Passages”

January 5, 2021 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

In recent years, the debate around LGBTQ+ inclusion in various Christian denominations has become central to conversations about the future of Christianity. Many Protestant denomination like the United Methodist Church have found themselves at an impasse, contemplating an official schism over their position on LGBTQ+ inclusion. This year, Pope Francis made international headlines a number of times for increasingly affirming statements about the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people, ranging from approval of civil unions to calling on Catholics to... Read more

Why Joe Biden Is The Clear Christian Choice In 2020

July 19, 2020 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

*This post is written by Rev. Brandan Robertson on behalf of himself alone. The views expressed do not represent any church, seminary, or organization he is affiliated with. The 2020 election will be by far the most consequential election in my lifetime. As a millennial, I have watched our country transform drastically over the past nearly thirty years- from the digital revolution of the 90’s, 9/11 and the so-called “war against terror”, the financial collapse of 2008, to the election... Read more

The Siren Song of Persecution: On Californias “Worship Ban”

July 7, 2020 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

As a former evangelical, I am never surprised by the faux outrage that is often expressed by my former tribe. One of the key reasons I left the evangelical movement was precisely because it was rooted in fear– not legitimate fear, but manufactured fear. The irony is not lost on me that a movement that both prides itself on being deeply rooted in American values and history nonetheless expends an ungodly amount of energy fighting the “persecution” that America is unleashing on... Read more

Toxic Unity

July 6, 2020 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

We are living in an era of unprecedented division- the left seems further left than ever, and the right seems more right than anytime in recent memory. Many people, in times like these, are drawn to harken back to the earliest principles of our democracy, words like those of the official motto of the United States: E pluribus unum, a latin phrase that translates “one out of many.” This same idea fills the pages of the New Testament as both Jesus... Read more

A Call To The Worlds Faith Leaders For Action for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

July 4, 2020 By Rev. Brandan J. Robertson

The following are my remarks made at The Global Interfaith Commission on LGBTQ+ Lives at Westminster Abbey on December 16, 2020. Good morning from San Diego, California everyone. It is such an honor to be joining you all this morning for this incredible and important moment in the history of the LGBTQ+ faith movement globally. I am so honored to be joining so many friends and colleagues from around the world, and am so grateful to my friend Jayne Ozanne... Read more