The experience of spirituality in the lives of Anglican gay men
Date
2012-07-19
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Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study is to open a window of articulation and understanding into the lived experience and meaning of spirituality in the lives of gay
men who, in the past or present, identify as being members of the Anglican expression of
Christianity. While over the last 50 years or so institutionalized religious institutions have been declining in their social influence and membership numbers, there has been an increase in interest and attention to spirituality.
Institutional religious movements in the past have been nearly uniformly negative
or condemnatory of individuals identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender
(GLBT), and of same-gender sexual expressions. Recently, however, attitudes have been changing in some branches of Christianity. Within the worldwide Anglican Communion,and more particularly in the Anglican Church of Canada, official and unofficial voices have expressed positions along a continuum ranging from condemnatory to affirming of same-sex affection, desire, and relationships. This study’s aim is to shed light on how gay men with roots in this particular religious community live out their gay identity and how they experience and express spirituality in their lives.
Participants (N = 14) took part in two interviews. The starting points for the
second interview were the photographs they brought reflecting their experience of
spirituality. Utilizing Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), two interrelated principal lenses were identified through which participants created meaning about that experience. The first lens, Influences, identified the location of various influences impacting participants’ experiencing spirituality. The second lens, Interpretative Engaging, explored how participants sifted, sorted, and sewed together both negative and
growthful experiencing of these influences as they created meaning about spirituality in
their lives. Identifiable qualities characterizing these participants’ experiencing also emerged. These qualities were that spirituality was (a) relational, (b) intentional, (c) directional, and (d) transformational.
Limitations of this research are discussed, along with identifying potentially fruitful avenues of future research. Implications particularly for counselling psychology are also identified, especially noting the rich potential in utilizing photographic images as
tools expressing and exploring experiential areas of life when words themselves fall short.
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Education--Guidance and Counseling
Citation
Hollowell, B. (2012). The experience of spirituality in the lives of Anglican gay men (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28145