A woman bishop and lesbian, why am I not surprised
Yvette Flunder, the lesbian leader of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California, who is also the presiding prelate of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, has drawn criticism for questioning parts of the Bible she finds “problematic” and suggesting that they be removed.
The frustrated 70-year-old, who is married to her same-sex partner Shirley Miller, also suggested that the Bible needs a third Testament.
“This is a very dangerous thing that I’m about to say now, ... a bit dangerous. I’m of the opinion that we need a third testament because the Bible has become problematic,” Flunder stated in a clip shared by the discernment blog Protestia on Monday.
The clip appears to have come from the 2026 Samuel Dewitt Procter Conference, where Flunder spoke on the topic, “The SACRED FIRE: Igniting, Resilience, and Resistance” in February.
“‘Slaves obey your masters as you do the Lord.’ It’s a text," she said, quoting Paul's words from Ephesians 6:5. "‘Let the women keep silent in the churches and if they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home," she added, quoting the words of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.
"Now I’m a believer. My whole heart, I trust God with my whole heart. I wake up in the morning talking to God and God talking to me,” she continued.
“But I am completely frustrated with the ways in which the text speaks to the kind of vitriolic God that makes those kinds of things. And people will say, ‘Well, it’s in the book.’ And I said, then we need to pull that page out,” Flunder declared.
“And they said, ‘Well, you can’t do it.” It’s the Word of God.’ I said, ‘No, it’s words about God.’ Come on now. But is it the Word of God?” she asked before responding, “No. It is not the Word of God.”
The video clip racked up nearly 500,000 views on X as of Tuesday afternoon and drew attention from online influencers, such as Christian conservative speaker April Chapman, who hosts the "Unshakable with April Chapman" podcast.
“You don’t need a Third Testament. You need first-rate repentance,” wrote Chapman, in a statement on X.
In a video included with the post, Chapman contends that Flunder is "suffering from rebellion."
"You don't get to stand in a pulpit, insult the word of the living God and say, 'You know, I'm about to say something that's a little dangerous,' and then pretend that you are speaking for Christ," Chapman added. "You just knew what you were about to say was heresy. You are not being bold, you are just rebellious."
"On the surface, it sounds real compassionate," she continued. "If you are a person who wants to edit and revise and create in your own image, then ... what Yvette Flunder said is going to sound amazing to you. But if you are a saint, like those of us who belong to Christ, ... we know that the word of God is not some idol waiting on our approval."
Rich Bitterman, a Southern Baptist minister currently serving as the senior pastor of Cedar Ridge Baptist Church in Galena, Missouri, said Flunder’s words “should make every Christian shudder.”
“Bishop Yvette Flunder did not merely question a passage. She told the church, in plain words, that parts of God’s Word should be torn out. She said the New Testament is not the Word of God and both of the Testaments are ‘problematic,’” Bitterman wrote in a blog post.
“She said they contain bad theology. Then she said, with a kind of smiling violence that should make every Christian shudder, that ‘we need to pull those pages out.’ You can almost hear it. Thin paper tearing. A hand reaching for the Book that has outlived empires, buried tyrants, steadied martyrs at the stake, and carried dying saints across the final river,” he continued. “That sound is more than rebellion against ink and paper. It is rebellion against the God who speaks.”
Bitterman cites 1 Timothy 4:1, which reads: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
“Flunder’s statements are not simply offensive. They are spiritually murderous. If the Bible can be cut apart, then the sinner loses the only trustworthy witness to Christ,” Bitterman wrote. “The guilty man loses the words that tell him why his conscience will not let him sleep and the grieving widow loses the promises that have held generations together at fresh graves.”
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Yvette Flunder, the lesbian leader of the City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, California, who is also the presiding prelate of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, has drawn criticism for questioning parts of the Bible she finds “problematic” and suggesting that they be removed.
The frustrated 70-year-old, who is married to her same-sex partner Shirley Miller, also suggested that the Bible needs a third Testament.
“This is a very dangerous thing that I’m about to say now, ... a bit dangerous. I’m of the opinion that we need a third testament because the Bible has become problematic,” Flunder stated in a clip shared by the discernment blog Protestia on Monday.
The clip appears to have come from the 2026 Samuel Dewitt Procter Conference, where Flunder spoke on the topic, “The SACRED FIRE: Igniting, Resilience, and Resistance” in February.
“‘Slaves obey your masters as you do the Lord.’ It’s a text," she said, quoting Paul's words from Ephesians 6:5. "‘Let the women keep silent in the churches and if they have any questions let them ask their husbands at home," she added, quoting the words of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35.
"Now I’m a believer. My whole heart, I trust God with my whole heart. I wake up in the morning talking to God and God talking to me,” she continued.
“But I am completely frustrated with the ways in which the text speaks to the kind of vitriolic God that makes those kinds of things. And people will say, ‘Well, it’s in the book.’ And I said, then we need to pull that page out,” Flunder declared.
“And they said, ‘Well, you can’t do it.” It’s the Word of God.’ I said, ‘No, it’s words about God.’ Come on now. But is it the Word of God?” she asked before responding, “No. It is not the Word of God.”
The video clip racked up nearly 500,000 views on X as of Tuesday afternoon and drew attention from online influencers, such as Christian conservative speaker April Chapman, who hosts the "Unshakable with April Chapman" podcast.
“You don’t need a Third Testament. You need first-rate repentance,” wrote Chapman, in a statement on X.
In a video included with the post, Chapman contends that Flunder is "suffering from rebellion."
"You don't get to stand in a pulpit, insult the word of the living God and say, 'You know, I'm about to say something that's a little dangerous,' and then pretend that you are speaking for Christ," Chapman added. "You just knew what you were about to say was heresy. You are not being bold, you are just rebellious."
"On the surface, it sounds real compassionate," she continued. "If you are a person who wants to edit and revise and create in your own image, then ... what Yvette Flunder said is going to sound amazing to you. But if you are a saint, like those of us who belong to Christ, ... we know that the word of God is not some idol waiting on our approval."
Rich Bitterman, a Southern Baptist minister currently serving as the senior pastor of Cedar Ridge Baptist Church in Galena, Missouri, said Flunder’s words “should make every Christian shudder.”
“Bishop Yvette Flunder did not merely question a passage. She told the church, in plain words, that parts of God’s Word should be torn out. She said the New Testament is not the Word of God and both of the Testaments are ‘problematic,’” Bitterman wrote in a blog post.
“She said they contain bad theology. Then she said, with a kind of smiling violence that should make every Christian shudder, that ‘we need to pull those pages out.’ You can almost hear it. Thin paper tearing. A hand reaching for the Book that has outlived empires, buried tyrants, steadied martyrs at the stake, and carried dying saints across the final river,” he continued. “That sound is more than rebellion against ink and paper. It is rebellion against the God who speaks.”
Bitterman cites 1 Timothy 4:1, which reads: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
“Flunder’s statements are not simply offensive. They are spiritually murderous. If the Bible can be cut apart, then the sinner loses the only trustworthy witness to Christ,” Bitterman wrote. “The guilty man loses the words that tell him why his conscience will not let him sleep and the grieving widow loses the promises that have held generations together at fresh graves.”
