Reviews

Rachel Mann, priest and poet, writes in her foreword: Reconciliation and remembrance are at the heart of Savitri Hensman's new book. Sexuality, Struggle and Saintliness gathers together wisdom on matters of sexuality and church polity collected over an extensive career. At a time when debate over the Christian faith's position on LGBT people and our relationships has profound charge and is extraordinarily divisive, Hensman's approach is welcome. The former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, notes: God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realise that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion. In God's family, there are no outsiders, no enemies. Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight - all belong. Simon Barrow, co-director of Ekklesia, writes: Savi Hensman invites the churches towards a change of heart and mind on matters of human sexuality and same-sex love. But she does so on strong theological grounds, not simply to compromise with fashion. Like much of Ekklesia's work, this book rejects simple 'liberal versus conservative' dichotomies, challenging us to costly, imaginative transformation.