About my writing

But once I’m talking, I’ll tell it as it is. I’ll say the words that aren’t being said, I’ll delve the topics that are too taboo and I’ll throw out challenges for people to wrestle with.

This blog is a space where I write at the edges of ideas that relate to hope, sexuality and consent. I want to lean into the grey places where people haven’t yet distilled their thoughts or figured out where they want to stand. I’ll disentangle complexities and dare to re-open questions where the standard answers now seem incomplete.

In practical terms, that means I write about:

  • sex and portrayals of sex,
  • consent and consent culture,
  • purity and purity culture,
  • inclusion and transformation,
  • bodies and personhood,
  • the Bible and Christian witness.

I approach these topics as a Christian and a feminist, but also with a listening ear to the sex-positive community.

I have a sister-site Faith in Grey Places that is dedicated to creative and contemplative work inspired by the Bible. Everything there is safe for work (and church).

Who am I writing for?

A teacher once told me that people have a ‘comfort zone,’ a ‘stretch zone’ and a ‘panic zone’ when it comes to ideas. You could say my posts are kind of like that. Some of them are well within the bounds of established Christian thought, others are a bit edgier, and others are likely to be some way outside the comfort zones of many. Following the theme of ‘Light in grey places’ I thought I might refer to these three categories of content as follows: sunlight, firelight, and moonlight. At the top of each post, you’ll see how it’s been categorised.

Thematically, I’ve grouped posts as follows:

The Bible

These are specific studies that dive deep into the text of the Bible. They’re best read with a Bible to hand and the aim here is to help you understand the biblical text better. These posts are analytical and often quote other scholars, but I try and make them accessible. These posts and grouped into four sub-topics:

Hope and consent (inside the church)

These are generally my observations about how Christians talk about various topics, especially within evangelical circles. Here, I talk about two of my main topics, hope and consent, but as a rule of thumb, these posts are about how the church can do better. Unsurprisingly then, there’s a whole bunch of posts about exclusion.

Hope and consent (outside the church)

So, here you can find my takes on how hope and consent are presented and discussed in:

Don’t get me wrong, my aim here is to shine a light in the dark. I’m not here to promote BDSM, or porn, or sex work, or polyamory — but I want to take an honest look at these edges.

I also wrote an epic series comparing how redemption is presented in Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast with how it’s presented in Fifty Shades.

Personal reflections

These are contemplative posts about myself (especially my creativity and my journey as a blogger), plust experiences I’ve had and events I’ve been to that have prompted me to reflect on my faith.

What other people have said about my writing

I treasure all positive feedback about my work, but here are some pieces from names that might be familiar to you.

This is the most comprehensive article I have ever read on the topic of consent.
– Ashley Easter

Ashley is a Christian feminist, writer, speaker, and abuse-victim advocate; founder of the Courage Conference; do check out her amazing website.
She was commenting on: this post about sex and consent.

I really appreciated this article. With so many obstacles that many of us faced with harmful teachings on purity, masturbation, sex in general, sometimes sex just doesn’t work out the way we had hoped and planned.
– Julie Anne Smith

Julie is an advocate for victims of spiritual abuse and founder of Spiritual Sounding Board; her important blogging work calling out abuse in the church has been recognised in The Washington Post.
She was commenting on: my open letter to the evangelical couple considering sex therapy.

I think Christine’s scenario has a lot of credibility.
– Margaret Mowczko

Marg is a theologian and egalitarian blogger who encourages mutuality and equality between men and women in the church and in marriage. She has written extensively about the New Testament on her website.
She was commenting on: this post that examines Deuteronomy 22:28-29 which, on the surface, seems to be about a young woman marrying her rapist.

I loved the way that you played with skandalon and what that might have meant for Jesus as he was growing up – and also what it might have meant for Mary and for Joseph too.
– Dr Paula Gooder

Paula is a New Testament scholar, author and Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral, London.
She was commenting on: this creative monologue about Jesus visiting the temple as a boy, written from Mary’s point of view.

This is a clever and sharp piece of work and theologically sound
– Rev Dr Kevin Giles

Kevin is an Anglican minister, theologian and author of many books including The Rise and Fall of the Complementarian Doctrine of the Trinity and What the Bible Actually Teaches on Women.
He was commenting on: a short sketch I wrote contrasting the paternal/filial relationships between Jonathan and Saul, and Jesus and the Father (not published on my blog).

Had a marvellous afternoon with @hope4greyplaces, who has a MASSIVE BRAIN and a good heart.
– Natalie Collins

Natalie is a gender justice advocate and author of Out of Control: Couples, Conflict and the Capacity for Change; we met up that day to talk about her Own My Life course which helps women regain ownership of their lives when they have subjected to abuse or violence by their partner.

Good questions & insights in your blog post, @hope4greyplaces!
– Vicky Beeching

Vicky is writer, broadcaster and equality campaigner; she was a singer-songwriter in the evangelical church and then came out as gay in 2014. Her amazing memoir is UNDIVIDED.
She was commenting on: Evangelicals can’t sanitise Vicky Beeching’s conversion exorcism as badly worded prayers.

I’m going to talk about [modesty] in terms of consent and context, which totally revolutionized this whole conversation for me. … Christine Woolgar cuts through the modesty kerfuffle with the most reasonable and rarely heard suggestion: modesty is not about the body; it’s about knowing when to display your “glory” and how to display it without excluding others.
– Bailey Bergmann Steger

Bailey is a lifestyle blogger and egalitarian and now mum who writes amazing and thoughtful pieces, particularly as regards civil conversation and her deconstruction from being a stay-at-home daughter.
She was commenting on: this post I wrote about modesty: Modesty 101: modesty is not about clothes, rather glory and context.

This is so good and important as always. I am in awe of Christine’s openness, wisdom and nuanced approaches.
– Amy Norton

Amy is a sex and BDSM blogger (her very not-safe-for-work blog is here)
She was commenting on: this post about how we use the language of consent: “The sub is in control” — actually, this isn’t true and consent culture needs better words.

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I’m here to build up a library of useful notes and reflections – it’s up to you what you make of them. Whether you agree or disagree (or both), my aim is to help you gather your thoughts.

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