The Bumbling Pastoral Worker: Theological Reflections on a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Interfaith Project

This article examines the complexity of pastoral ministry in a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) interfaith context. The author was involved in developing an LGBT interfaith project in Soho from 2001 to 2005, which involved Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim participants. Drawing on interviews conducted with participants, the study offers insights into the provisional and practical nature of the relationships that formed in the LGBT interfaith group. It reveals the need for a theology that is open to being continually challenged by fresh levels of human complexity, that is attuned to the rapidly changing needs of the present moment, and that sits comfortably with its own provisionality. To this end it develops the working model of the "bumbling pastoral worker" as a response to the complexity and transience of my practical context.