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Join us to hear Bernard Schlager interview Steven Law on his recently published book The Story of Bob: The Life & Times of Robert W. Wood (Pilgrim Press, 2026).

Rev. Robert Wood (1923-2018), World War II veteran and ordained Congregational Christian (later United Church of Christ) minister, was a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Active in the Mattachine Society, he published his book Christ and the Homosexual in 1960 under his own name and at great risk to his ministerial career at that time. Wood also participated in protests against the federal government’s ban on gay employees, and he pushed the United Church of Christ to embrace gay rights.

Law conducted a series of interviews with Wood, from which he has written a captivating story of a man before his time who strove to live and love authentically and to advocate for the gay community in church and society.

Steven Law

Steven Law is a writer whose work bridges faith and cultural engagement. His commitment to compassionate storytelling enriches The Story of Bob with insight and empathy. Steven Law holds degrees from Campbell University and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, where his focus was Christian ethics and social policy. As an ordained pastor, he served rural and urban churches before studying creative writing with C. Michael Curtis. He is the founder and president of the Law Stroud Foundation (lawstroudfoundation.org).

Bernie Schlager

Bernard Schlager, PhD, is Associate Professor of Historical and Cultural Studies at Pacific School of Religion (PSR) and Executive Director of The Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion. Schlager received his PhD from Yale University in the history of medieval and Latin American Christianity. His research interests include the history of Christianity, LGBTQ pastoral care, queer studies, and medieval social and religious history. Dr. Schlager has published numerous articles on church history, medieval religion and society, and the history of sexuality. He is co-author with David Kundtz of Ministry Among God’s Queer Folk: LGBTQ Pastoral Care (Second Edition: Cascade Books, 2019).

This online event is co-sponsored by LGBTQ-RAN and CLGS