Marie Alford-Harkey

Although this guidebook includes some helpful suggestions for those looking to make their religious community more bi-inclusive, it ultimately fell below my expectations. The authors did a poor job of integrating (not just tacking on) interfaith perspectives into the discussion of bisexuality and didn't effectively connect the abundance of research they presented to the realities of being a bi+ person in a faith community. The tone of the book was also very dry which made it a struggle to get through, despite my vested interest in this topic and the brevity of the book.

I believe this guide would have benefitted from including more narratives of bi+ people of faith, more space to consider religious perspectives outside the mainline Protestant worldview that dominated the text, and more 101/"how to" information and examples (e.g., "what to say and not to say to someone considering coming out as a bi+ identity in your faith community", "what are the most common definitions of bisexuality?", "what is pansexuality?"). Despite the fact there are some really great suggestions in this guide (particularly in the last section), I have a lot of reservations about recommending this book even to those in the mainline denominations it was most intended to serve because of its limitations. I will say I think excerpts of this book could be useful in certain religious contexts IF they are supplemented with narratives recounting the lived experiences of bi+ people of faith (which could include bringing in speakers), articles online that do a better job at introducing the concept of bisexuality or considering how to walk beside bi+ folks through the specific challenges we face, and resources on sexuality and faith totally devoted to the faith tradition of whoever is using the book.… (más)