With the vote to bless same-sex marriages, the Episcopal Church becomes the largest U.S. denomination to officially sanction same-sex relationships. Homosexuality has become a flashpoint at the intersection of religion, family, and politics. A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality is Changing the Episcopal Church tells the story of how homosexuality has been used to further conservative political agendas, both here and abroad. This provocative book is not a history of the movement for gay inclusion, nor a history of the movement for a new, conservative Anglican church in the Americas. Instead, it is a comparison of the conservative and the liberal parts of the church. Hall explores the rapid changes that have happened in Western society in the past fifty years that have led to the acceptance of same-sex marriage and homosexuality. This change has not come easily and even after nearly four decades, gay marriage remains a politically divisive issue in the United States and England.

Rev. Dr.Caroline Addington Hall is priest-in-charge of St Benedict’s Episcopal Church in California and President of Integrity, the lesbian and gay ministry in the Episcopal Church. She is a frequent contributor to the blog Walking with Integrity. Hall and her spouse were among the first gay couples married in California when marriage became legal for same-sex couples in 2008.

Praise for A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality is Changing the Episcopal Church

“This is Episcopal history at its best and a compelling story that needs to be told. Hall narrates with intelligence and accuracy the past 50 years of prejudice and pride. Her wide vision encompasses the critical intersections of shifts in religion, politics and contemporary cultural awareness about homosexuality.”

–Fredrica Harris Thompsett, Ph.D., Mary Wolfe Professor of Historical Theology, Episcopal Divinity School

“For over fifty years, the Episcopal Church has struggled to appreciate faithfulness and holiness among LGBT Christians. Caroline Addington Hall has given us a richly informative account of this disturbing, provocative, and inspiring strand of our history. Reading this book is good background for those who would continue to move the Anglican Communion forward.”

—Reverend Canon Dr. Marilyn McCord Adams, formerly Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford

“The Anglican upheaval over homosexuality has found its historian. Caroline Addington Hall does not disclaim her own perspective on the debate, no credible commentator can as the earth still trembles with change, but she tells both sides of the story with remarkable and thorough care. A Thorn in the Flesh will be the benchmark against which later works on this subject will be measured.”

—Reverend Harry Knox, President and CEO, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice