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Press
March 2013 |
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| By: Matthew Vines, The Reformation Project |
The Reformation Project: Training Christians to Eradicate Homophobia From the Church • The Huffington PostThis month, I am launching The Reformation Project. It is a nonprofit organization designed to connect, train and empower LGBT Christians and their allies to change their churches on this issue from within. This fall, we will host our first leadership conference for 50 straight, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians who are committed to reform. From Sept. 18 to 21 at Asbury United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Kan., we will put them through a Bible boot camp. |
Sept. 2012 |
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| By: Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter |
Matthew Vines: Bible Does Not Condemn Homosexuality • The Christian PostMatthew Vines is a 22-year-old gay Christian who believes being gay is not a sin. He came to that conclusion after two years of studying Scripture and the works of dozens of biblical scholars. The Harvard University student, currently on leave of absence, is now trying to win over fellow believers not just with an emotional testimony but with what he is presenting as biblically solid arguments. |
| By: Kathy Baldock, Executive Director | 
Reforming the Gay Christian Debate • Canyonwalker Connections“What does the Bible say about loving, same-sex relationships?” Nothing. Not a thing. And in that absence of Biblical direction of support for or condemnation of these relationships, Christians need to follow the general principles of the Bible: love, justice and kindness. This was the point Matthew Vines wanted to emphasize at his recent presentation at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan.
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| By: James Menendez, BBC World Service Presenter |
Can you be Christian and gay? (44:00 - 50:02) • Newshour, BBC World ServiceFor many people, the two are totally incompatible. That was certainly what 22 year-old Matthew Vines was taught. After coming out, he decided an emotional appeal wouldn't be enough, so Matthew took some time out from Harvard to equip himself with every bit of theological research to back up his case. The result? A YouTube video that's now been seen nearly 400,000 times. |
| By: Douglas Quenqua Reporter, The New York Times |
Turned Away, He Turned to the Bible • The New York TimesOne year after Matthew Vines was forced to leave the Wichita, Kan., church he had attended since birth — not because he is gay, but because he tried to convince people there was nothing wrong with that — he was sitting facing a crowd of 235 Christians, most of them gay or lesbian, at the Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. |
July 2012 |
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| By: Mark Sandlin PC(USA) Minister & co- founder of The Christian Left |
I'm Not Saying You're Homophobic; I'm Just Saying You're Homophobic • The Huffington PostFor me, the final nail in the "you're being homophobic coffin" is this video from Matthew Vines. It is a must watch. Yes, it is an hour long. Yes, it is just a guy giving a lecture -- but it is so much more than that. It is brilliant. It is well-researched. It is precisely presented. It is emotional. It is personal. Everyone needs to watch this. |
May 2012 |
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By: Fred Mann |
Gay Christian's video draws praise, scorn • The Wichita EagleIn the video, the young man with the face of an altar boy speaks with quiet conviction for 67 minutes, looking a church congregation in the eye, glancing only occasionally at his notes, making his case that when it comes to homosexuality and the Bible, most people have it all wrong. The Bible, he contends, doesn’t say homosexuality is a sin, nor does it condemn loving gay relationships. Made March 8 at College Hill United Methodist Church in Wichita, the video has been viewed more than 135,000 times on YouTube and drawn an international outpouring of praise and condemnation for the speaker. |
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By: Leonard Pitts, Jr. Syndicated Columnist, The Miami Herald |
Don't Blame the Bible • The Miami HeraldVines’ speech is a masterwork of scriptural exegesis and a marvel of patient logic, slicing and dicing with surgical precision the claim that homophobia is God ordained... It is fascinating stuff, and there is not nearly enough space here to do it justice, but the salient point is this: Matthew Vines is not some godless heathen lobbing bombs at Christianity from outside its walls. No, he lives inside Christianity’s walls, still holds the faith in which he was raised. So this is not an outsider’s attack. It is an insider’s plea. |
March 2012 |
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By: Dan Savage |
The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality • The StrangerVines' argument and his insights are highly relevant to gay Christians, to their families, to Christians who point to the bible to justify their bigotry and the pain they inflict on LGBT people (including their own LGBT children), and to anyone who happens to live in a country that is majority Christian... Watch this video: Vines is brilliant. |
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By: Avishai Don |
The Book of Matthew • The Harvard CrimsonIn the long run, Vines’s speech will probably create far more change on the ground than unconvincing apologetics or anti-Christian diatribes.... [H]is work serves as a beacon to those who seek a popular discourse on religion that is grounded in erudition, thoughtfulness, and dignity. |
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By: Kathy Baldock |
The Bible and Homosexuality, a Biblical presentation with Matthew Vines • LGBTQ NationYou cannot help but hear the scholarship with which he addresses the subject. Matthew not only educates the listener, he does so in a humble tone that will subtly cross even the most firmly constructed boundaries... This video is of such superior excellence in both scholarship and tone, it is now the resource to which I will direct Christian parents and friends of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. |