Filled with the spirit: sexuality, gender, and radical inclusivity in a black pentecostal church coalition

In 2001, a collection of open and affirming churches with predominantly African American membership and a Pentecostal style of worship formed a radically new coalition.

The group, known now as the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries or TFAM, has at its core the idea of 'radical inclusivity': the powerful assertion that everyone, no matter how seemingly flawed or corrupted, has holiness within.

Whether you are LGBT, have HIV/AIDS, have been in prison, abuse drugs or alcohol, are homeless, or are otherwise compromised and marginalized, TFAM tells its people, you are one of God's creations.

In 'Filled with the Spirit', Ellen Lewin gives us a deeply empathetic ethnography of the worship and community central to TFAM.