Turning Points Stories of Life and Change in the Church (2005)

• 78%
• 2005
• David Sampliner

Set in four segments, "Turning Points" looks at how individuals and congregations struggle with sexual orientation and their faith. The first segment, "Called to Serve," follows the Rev. Susie B. Smith, now serving a congregation in the UCC, returning to the congregation of her first call, North Anderson Community Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Together and separately, the congregation and Pastor Smith examine their losses and their gains when Susie left the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in order to be with her partner and to continue to serve as a minister In the second segment, "A Mother's Son," The Calhoun family explores the shock, the grief and the now strengthened families ties between them that were deeply tested when their son first came out. Among the challenges, the Calhouns were forced to chose between their congregation and their son. The third segment records the powerful reunion between two women who had parted under tragic circumstances years earlier. Now both mature women, at the time of their first encounter Joanna Adams was a young minister and Kathryn Cartledge was a parishioner filled with self-loathing about her core identity. Decades later they explore together what went wrong in the first encounter, telling a story that is both heart wrenching and healing. The final segment, "Open Door," examines the wellbeing of a welcoming Presbyterian congregation and their members in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In interviews and in worship, members and leaders of the congregation express their insights and attitudes toward being a welcoming place for gay and lesbian Christians. In-between each segment, deeply respected theologians Homer Ashby (McCormick), Walter Brueggemann (Columbia) Beverly Roberts Gaventa (Princeton), and Shirley Guthrie Jr. (Columbia) connect the stories to scripture and faith.