Christianity & Polyamory Self-Study Course
Christianity & Polyamory will guide you to take action now to improve your relationships, integrate your faith, and discover sacred connections between polyamory and Christianity.
If you want tools to navigate an open or polyamorous relationship with more grace, ease, and intention
If you want to integrate your polyamory or openness with your understanding of your Christian faith
If you want want to learn how polyamory can help us understand the divine and our Christianity faith more deeply
Of if you are a spiritual leader and want to better support the people you serve who may be polyamorous, in an open relationship, or exploring either (or both) ….
This is for you.
REviews from students
“Polyamory isn’t a word I hear in church. And I still feel stigma, shame and guilt about my non monogamous relationships – especially around my Christian elders and friends. Being in Queer Theology’s Christianity & Polyamory course is helping me see myself more fully, with loving hope.”
– Brandon, Texas
“I started the course with a lot of jealousy and insecurity in my relationship. I still feel jealous at times, but a HUGE difference is how I can learn to use those emotions in a constructive way – or at least be honest about them and move on rather than wallowing in them.”
– R, Oklahoma
What do you get?
At the end of this course, you will have everything you need to successfully navigate open or polyamorous relationships in a Christian context.
You’ll have confidence in the ethics of your relationship and new language to describe its sacredness.
Your faith will enrich your open or polyamorous relationships, rather than being a source of conflict or shame.
You’ll have the tools to navigate family, friends, and church communities that just don’t “get it”.
And you’ll have practical advice on how to get through the day to day realities of open and polyamorous relationships — conflict, communication, time management, family, and more.
Here's what we're doing...
What will it cover?
- The basic terms and concepts of polyamory and open relationships — if you’re not poly or you’re new to open relationships, you’ll be able to understand the broad strokes, major ideas, and common words
- How polyamory and open relationships fit into a Christian ethic
- We’ll explore how polyamory is not just “ok” but also how polyamory can help us understand our faith even more deeply… Things like God’s love, abundance, community, the trinity, Jesus’s ministry, and more!
- Some practical tactics on navigating open and polyamorous relationships
Who is this not for? What will it not cover?
- We aren’t going to go deep on discerning if an open or polyamorous relationship is right for you and your specific context (if you want that support, let’s talk)
- It’s not a step-by-step guide on how to open up a monogamous relationship
- It’s not therapy — if you have deep personal or relational issues (anxiety, depression, abuse, trauma, infidelity, addiction, etc.), I urge you to seek the support of a licensed, LGBTQ-affirming, poly-competent therapist to work through that. This course can certainly supplement that work, but it’s not a replacement for therapy when needed.
How is it delivered?
- The course is 4 units long plus some pre-course reading + work. It’s designed so that you can go through it one unit per week or take as much time as you’d like
- 5 PDF workbooks full of readings, assignments, and exercises
- Access to 8 Q&A calls and group discussion from “live” versions of the course so you can learn from others who have gone before you
- Supplemental reading, watching, and podcast recommendations
Weekly Breakdown
Each week, we'll focus on a different area. This is the agenda. Or "syllabus" for you fancy folks ;
Unit 1
How we know it’s OK to be Christian & polyamorous
What the Bible says, how to read the Bible in the first place, how polyamory fits with a Christian sexual ethic, and addressing common objections
Unit 2
The Nuts & Bolts of Polyamory
Tools and tactics for putting polyamory into practice: navigating shame & jealousy, different ways to structure your relationship, healthy communication, and more!
Unit 3
The Poly God
How polyamory can enrich our understanding of God and give us new ways of thinking and talking about the Divine
Unit 2
The Poly Gospel
How polyamory pairs with the Gospel, enriches our understanding of it, and can be a faithful way of living into it.
Registration is currently closed.
If you would like to stay in the loop about when registration will be open again, you can add your name to the email list by clicking here.
About The Instructor: Brian G. Murphy
Brian G. Murphy is an activist, educator, and certified relationship coach. He grew up evangelical Christian in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC and for the past decade has been engaged in faith-based activism and social justice work. He participated in the 2007 Soulforce Equality Ride, co-founded Legalize Trans*, and most recently partnered with Fr. Shannon Kearns to create Queer Theology. He’s spoken about faith, sexuality, gender, and justice at dozens of colleges and conferences across the USA.
In addition to being open and polyamorous for the past 8 years, Brian has also worked with dozens of LGBTQ+ and straight, cisgender Christians to navigate their relationships in healthy and faithful ways — from celibate to monogamous to polyamorous and all points in between.