Yesterday on Twitter I identified myself as a "gay, liberal, agnostic Christian mystic," and it got a lot of attention. I had people DMing me and texting me, asking me to talk a little bit more about that. Some people despise labels and do everything they can to avoid...

Four years ago I was a full-time worship pastor at Redwood Covenant Church (now Bayside Church of Santa Rosa). I was married to my wife of 23 years, and we still had three children in our home. Things looked fine on the outside, but on the inside things were starting...

A few days ago I had a conversation with a gay man in his sixties who is joining my next Christian Closet support group for gay/bi men in mixed-orientation marriages. I wrote about my conversation on Facebook: I just got off the phone with the sweetest guy. He's in...

I'm sitting in the Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas on the afternoon of December 30, 2019. I have a few more hours to wait until I board my flight to Fort Lauderdale for the Q Christian Fellowship Conference, where I'll be performing at Q Night Live and helping to lead...

Last week I was so encouraged to read the news that a relatively prominent Evangelical Covenant Church called Vox Veniae in Austin, Texas (read their 2013 New York Times profile here) was choosing to disassociate from their denomination rather than submit to its...

It started the evening of June 18th. I was in bed working on my computer when out of nowhere my left arm felt very wrong, like it had suddenly fallen asleep. My forearm and fingers felt numb, and I couldn't move my hand normally. I leapt out of bed in a panic and...

I'm in one of my favorite places this morning, sitting on the couch in my pajamas with my laptop. I feel so at home in this cozy little house in Berkeley. For the last three and a half years, since that life-changing day in May of 2016, Annie and Victoria's house has...

I’ve never been one to stand on the sidelines, especially if there’s a bandwagon to jump on. So here’s my contribution to the #10YearChallenge. 2009 was a good year in many ways. I had just started my new job as worship pastor at Redeemer Covenant Church in...

A few weeks back, I wrote about why my identity as a gay man matters—-even in church, maybe even especially in church. I'm glad that I was able to find the words and that they resonated with so many of you. It led to some good, healthy conversations on Facebook and...

includer © David Hayward aka The Naked Pastor Purchase a print here. I recently got some feedback about my ministry from someone who used to go to my church. He basically said "I don't want to hear that Matt's gay every Sunday." Oof. I'll admit it. That hurt a little...