Messy Grace
How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction
Sometimes, grace gets messy.
Caleb Kaltenbach was raised by LGBT parents, marched in gay pride parades as a youngster, and experienced firsthand the hatred and bitterness of some Christians toward his family.
But then Caleb surprised everyone, including himself, by becoming a Christian…and a pastor.
Very few issues in Christianity are as divisive as the acceptance of the LGBT community in the church. As a pastor and as a person with beloved family members living a gay lifestyle, Caleb had to face this issue with courage and grace.
Messy Grace shows us that Jesus’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” doesn’t have an exception clause for a gay “neighbor”—or for that matter, any other “neighbor” we might find it hard to relate…
Caleb Kaltenbach is the executive director of the Messy Grace Group and the author of God of Tomorrow and Messy Grace, the story of being raised by three activist gay parents, accepting Jesus, and seeing his parents trust Jesus. He speaks widely on issues of faith, reconciliation, and sexual diversity. A graduate of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, he received his doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Amy, have two children and reside in Southern California.