Bringing Ministry to the Margins (With Bishop Karen Oliveto)

All Out in the Open

All Out in the Open, Questions from the Closet

Latter-day Saint, Christ, Society & Culture, Mormon, Gay, Religion & Spirituality, Faith, Lgbtq, Transgender, Church Of Jesus Christ, Christianity, Lgbt, Lds

5 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

This week in our ALL Together episode, Bishop Karen Oliveto shares her experiences as the first openly lesbian bishop in The United Methodist Church and what it means to bring ministry to the margins. Drawing on insights from her book “Together at the Table,” Bishop Oliveto discusses the power of gathering to find common ground. Her story reminds us that inclusion and understanding are everyday expressions of faith.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to another episode of All Out in the Open.
0:13.2	We are so grateful today to have Bishop Karen Olivetto here with us.
0:19.3	I got to meet Karen at the gather conference this summer in
0:24.5	Provo. She was a speaker and was interviewed by Tim and Aubrey Chavez at the conference. And I was just
0:31.9	so touched by your words and your experience and your heart. I came home and got the book. I got to meet you with Tom
0:39.4	introduced us and Tom Christofferson. And he just recommended the book in spades. And so I have read it.
0:48.2	And I was just so touched by your book. You were the first openly lesbian woman to be elected as bishop of the United
0:58.3	Methodist Church. You were ordained in Scottsdale. Did I read that correctly? Consecrated.
1:03.7	Consecrated. Excuse me. Okay. I want to use the correct terms. You're consecrated in Scottsdale
1:08.3	in 2016. Is that correct?
1:11.1	Okay.
1:13.9	Please tell us more about you.
1:16.4	Where are you now and a bit about your ministry?
1:19.4	Well, let me start from... First, I want to say thank you to you for having you.
1:22.3	I also want to say the Gather Conference was one of the most moving conferences I've ever been invited to.
1:30.5	I find that I am still experiencing blessings from our time together. So thank you. Thank you for
1:38.4	absolutely. So I have sat with what I, all I heard and saw.
1:46.2	And I was so moved, so moved.
1:48.7	Oh, I love that.
1:50.3	We're glad you were there to share with us.
1:53.1	Yeah. So a little bit about me.
1:55.4	I was born on Good Friday and raised in a telltale Babylon.
	...

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