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Open: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Sexuality in the Heartland
Open is a story of coming out as a gay man while working as a Baptist youth minister in Texas. Open is also the story of a Christian evangelical family living in the American heartland who must grapple with the son who has challenged their beliefs. Set in the front lines of the struggle for LGBT equality in the 21st century, Open explores the universal question of how we as humans live true to ourselves as our network of relations pushes back. Open is the story of how one man succeeded - living openly as a gay man and as a Christian minister in the Bible Belt.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirLGBT
170 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
5 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
E. Scott Jones
1 book35 followersE. Scott Jones grew up in a small town in Oklahoma knowing since the age of five that he wanted to be a preacher. Then at age 29, he came out as a gay man, while serving as a youth minister at a Baptist church in Texas.
He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and received his Ph. D. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. He has previously pastored churches in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Today Scott is the Senior Minister of the First Central Congregational Church in Omaha, Nebraska and a lecturer in the Philosophy Department of Creighton University. He and his husband Michael are the delighted parents of a toddler son. Scott is an accomplished activist with keen insights on life in the American heartland.
He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and received his Ph. D. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. He has previously pastored churches in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Today Scott is the Senior Minister of the First Central Congregational Church in Omaha, Nebraska and a lecturer in the Philosophy Department of Creighton University. He and his husband Michael are the delighted parents of a toddler son. Scott is an accomplished activist with keen insights on life in the American heartland.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 11, 2025
Unorganized, poorly written memoir that's filled with contradictions and misleading perspectives. I literally could go through almost every page and point out errors in thinking or propaganda that the author is pushing. This isn't just simply his life story of coming out of a conservative denomination and becoming an ultra-liberal activist, it's an attempt to stereotype those he disagrees with while ignoring some very basic truths that are a couple thousand years old. Don't you love it when a plain guy from Oklahoma thinks he knows more than 2000 years worth of writers and scholars simply because he likes to have sex with another man?
The structural problem of the book is that in the early chapters the author doesn't know how to write a cohesive narrative, so he initially skips around to different time periods (sometimes 3 or 4 time periods within a dozen pages), interrupting stories to go off on tangents or go back into history. It's not easy to read at first, though it settles down eventually, and despite his bragging that he went to Yale memoir writing workshops where professors told him he was good, my guess is they didn't really read it all (college teachers do that sometimes, you know!).
We could argue theology or his newfound approach to viewing scripture through modernism, but he doesn't even get some of the basics right about the religion he was raised in. At one point he writes, "I reasoned myself out of believing in a literal Adam and Eve." That's ironic since the Bible states that the sin of Adam is basically mentally reasoning away from the God of creation by choosing your own mental constructs first.
The writer spends some time focusing negatively on anyone who doesn't agree with his liberal views of interpreting scripture (particularly his grandpa). He includes a few minimal threats of potential harm to gay groups by conservatives, but of course fails to include the threats that are made by liberals and gays to others. He brushes aside the suggestion that the Bible has any verses that deal with homosexuality, rationalizing them all away, but ignores any mention of Matthew 19:4-6, where the words of Jesus pretty clearly state God made people male and female, and that "becoming one flesh" is when a man and woman come together. Even if you try to spin the Greek (and ignore that we don't have any original New Testament manuscripts), it's kind of hard to get past the actual words of Jesus (though modernists find ways to do it). That isn't to say true believers shouldn't be loving and kind to all humans, but any interpretation should be taken in balance with the totality of scripture, and Jones presents an imbalanced Biblical view that washes away any real application of verses by claiming it was written in "cultural context." That's about as wishy-washy as you can get.
Once Jones becomes an ordained pastor he says he longs to "live authentically," namely to have public same-sex relationships despite it being against church teaching and the Bible. I'd love to question him on whether anyone can choose to live "authentically" based on their own selfish choices--Would it be okay for a 15-year-old girl to have sex with a 26 year-old man if they both say they're "living authentically?" How about a mid-20s pastor inappropriately introducing a 15-year-old boy to gay magazines and gay stores, is that any better? (Jones actually did that.) Or is it okay if a man wants to marry two or more other consenting adults if he feels that's being his authentic self? The point being, authenticity is what you choose based on objective moral and societal norms, not some supposedly DNA-created design that drives you to live however you want.
One thing I did learn from this was his obnoxious way of forcing his gay choices on others. After a breakup with a boyfriend Jones begins suffering from depression and feels the need to come out to everyone and be accepted by them. Sometimes that's in a group setting instead of one-on-one. And in some cases he lies to people to set up the meeting where he forces his sexuality revelation on them. Classy, right, especially for a minister?
It's really a sign of his own insecurity that he didn't just live his life or talk humbly and honestly one-on-one instead making a big deal out of it. Some turned their backs on him or ignored the subject when around him, but he just returned to trying to force them into dealing with it. Did he ever think that it wasn't the message that they objected to but his method? There are ways to communicate that won't intimidate or harm, that will make the message more palatable, but this guy didn't seem to know how to do that.
Even his own first boyfriend, who Jones comes back to over and over anxiously pressuring the guy, breaks it off a second time saying, "You're so controlling." Jones response? "I'm just sharing my joy with you." It's delusional and a lack of self-awareness mixed with a bit of mental illness.
It's also strange, since the gay community gets upset about never pressuring anyone to come out, that the same people often feel the need to pressure others to accept them when they do reveal their sexuality. What is the compulsion within a person with same-sex desires that makes them want to ram their beliefs down the throats of others (pun intended) while refusing to respect how others act or believe? Why should a gay guy be allowed to control others (or object loudly when they don't react how he likes) but then reject any attempt of others controlling him? If tolerance and acceptance are the goal, then that has to go both ways, and people like E. Scott Jones are hypocrites that break a simple Bible verse that says to treat others the way you want to be treated.
There's so much else to comment on, but his story isn't that unique or inspiring. He gets into sex and all sorts of fun long after he has been in the ministry at more liberal churches. It's kind of an "anything goes" message for someone in the LGBTQ community, attempting to give them a form of spirituality without a real moral foundation of objective truth beyond "love," which we know can be interpreted many ways.
Jones isn't as "open" as he claims to be, disregarding or misrepresenting those that oppose his social views and Biblical interpretations, and so ultimately you should keep this book closed.
The structural problem of the book is that in the early chapters the author doesn't know how to write a cohesive narrative, so he initially skips around to different time periods (sometimes 3 or 4 time periods within a dozen pages), interrupting stories to go off on tangents or go back into history. It's not easy to read at first, though it settles down eventually, and despite his bragging that he went to Yale memoir writing workshops where professors told him he was good, my guess is they didn't really read it all (college teachers do that sometimes, you know!).
We could argue theology or his newfound approach to viewing scripture through modernism, but he doesn't even get some of the basics right about the religion he was raised in. At one point he writes, "I reasoned myself out of believing in a literal Adam and Eve." That's ironic since the Bible states that the sin of Adam is basically mentally reasoning away from the God of creation by choosing your own mental constructs first.
The writer spends some time focusing negatively on anyone who doesn't agree with his liberal views of interpreting scripture (particularly his grandpa). He includes a few minimal threats of potential harm to gay groups by conservatives, but of course fails to include the threats that are made by liberals and gays to others. He brushes aside the suggestion that the Bible has any verses that deal with homosexuality, rationalizing them all away, but ignores any mention of Matthew 19:4-6, where the words of Jesus pretty clearly state God made people male and female, and that "becoming one flesh" is when a man and woman come together. Even if you try to spin the Greek (and ignore that we don't have any original New Testament manuscripts), it's kind of hard to get past the actual words of Jesus (though modernists find ways to do it). That isn't to say true believers shouldn't be loving and kind to all humans, but any interpretation should be taken in balance with the totality of scripture, and Jones presents an imbalanced Biblical view that washes away any real application of verses by claiming it was written in "cultural context." That's about as wishy-washy as you can get.
Once Jones becomes an ordained pastor he says he longs to "live authentically," namely to have public same-sex relationships despite it being against church teaching and the Bible. I'd love to question him on whether anyone can choose to live "authentically" based on their own selfish choices--Would it be okay for a 15-year-old girl to have sex with a 26 year-old man if they both say they're "living authentically?" How about a mid-20s pastor inappropriately introducing a 15-year-old boy to gay magazines and gay stores, is that any better? (Jones actually did that.) Or is it okay if a man wants to marry two or more other consenting adults if he feels that's being his authentic self? The point being, authenticity is what you choose based on objective moral and societal norms, not some supposedly DNA-created design that drives you to live however you want.
One thing I did learn from this was his obnoxious way of forcing his gay choices on others. After a breakup with a boyfriend Jones begins suffering from depression and feels the need to come out to everyone and be accepted by them. Sometimes that's in a group setting instead of one-on-one. And in some cases he lies to people to set up the meeting where he forces his sexuality revelation on them. Classy, right, especially for a minister?
It's really a sign of his own insecurity that he didn't just live his life or talk humbly and honestly one-on-one instead making a big deal out of it. Some turned their backs on him or ignored the subject when around him, but he just returned to trying to force them into dealing with it. Did he ever think that it wasn't the message that they objected to but his method? There are ways to communicate that won't intimidate or harm, that will make the message more palatable, but this guy didn't seem to know how to do that.
Even his own first boyfriend, who Jones comes back to over and over anxiously pressuring the guy, breaks it off a second time saying, "You're so controlling." Jones response? "I'm just sharing my joy with you." It's delusional and a lack of self-awareness mixed with a bit of mental illness.
It's also strange, since the gay community gets upset about never pressuring anyone to come out, that the same people often feel the need to pressure others to accept them when they do reveal their sexuality. What is the compulsion within a person with same-sex desires that makes them want to ram their beliefs down the throats of others (pun intended) while refusing to respect how others act or believe? Why should a gay guy be allowed to control others (or object loudly when they don't react how he likes) but then reject any attempt of others controlling him? If tolerance and acceptance are the goal, then that has to go both ways, and people like E. Scott Jones are hypocrites that break a simple Bible verse that says to treat others the way you want to be treated.
There's so much else to comment on, but his story isn't that unique or inspiring. He gets into sex and all sorts of fun long after he has been in the ministry at more liberal churches. It's kind of an "anything goes" message for someone in the LGBTQ community, attempting to give them a form of spirituality without a real moral foundation of objective truth beyond "love," which we know can be interpreted many ways.
Jones isn't as "open" as he claims to be, disregarding or misrepresenting those that oppose his social views and Biblical interpretations, and so ultimately you should keep this book closed.
August 21, 2023
Other books, such as "God and the Gay Christian," address Christian faith and LBGT. This is a memoir of a minister coming out.
I'm sad that when Scott came out, friends took him to nightclubs and bars. And that his dating life looked the same as non-Christian dating - quick meet, then get intimate. Isn't there a better way for people to meet and get to know each other?
The spiritual content was the highlight for me - that open communion meant so much to a family with a disabled child, providing a church that's a safe place for all, being salt and light in the community.
To Scott - glad you're my neighbor!
I'm sad that when Scott came out, friends took him to nightclubs and bars. And that his dating life looked the same as non-Christian dating - quick meet, then get intimate. Isn't there a better way for people to meet and get to know each other?
The spiritual content was the highlight for me - that open communion meant so much to a family with a disabled child, providing a church that's a safe place for all, being salt and light in the community.
To Scott - glad you're my neighbor!
January 3, 2023
I found this book at a conference in Jefferson City, MO in October of last year. I was struck by the honesty and authenticity of Scott's writing. The book is also filled with humor, heartbreak, family disappointments, and highlights the spiritual and biblical ignorance on the issue of homosexuality among the Christian community. Scott's journey should be an inspiration to us all, regardless of our gender preference.
December 9, 2022
Great memoir of a UCC pastor. Would have loved a better ending, but great and important book.
January 19, 2023
Poignant and wry portrait of gay Christian life through an Oklahoman lens. We actually read this over a year, a few pages each Sunday after viewing livestreams of the author at work in worship services. Jones is a dynamic and deeply read progressive minister and philosopher, and the same strengths are evident in his life storytelling here. For those of us who came of LGBT age in the late 90s, the chapters set in the Cathedral of Hope will send you back in time to when CoH was known as the gay Christian/spiritual Mecca of the US.
Well-crafted, gentle, coherent writing. Highly recommended for LGBT, religious/spiritual, and Gen-X/Xennial stacks.
Well-crafted, gentle, coherent writing. Highly recommended for LGBT, religious/spiritual, and Gen-X/Xennial stacks.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews