The Rev. Dr. Tom Hanks has served as a missionary in Latin America since
1963, first with the Latin American Mission as professor of Hebrew Bible at the
Latin America Biblical Seminary in San Jose, Costa Rica (1963 to 1985), and then
in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1986 to 2003) with the Universal Fellowship of
Metropolitan Community Churches and as executive director of Other Sheep.
Born July 1, 1934, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Stanley and Elizabeth
Hanks, he became active as a child in the Nelson Presbyterian Church, where he
experienced an evangelical conversion shortly before being graduated from
Normandy High School in 1952. Hanks’ father was a painting contractor and poet;
his younger sister Carol ranked among the top ten in women’s tennis and played
four times at Wimbledon; and his brother David, a specialist on Frank Lloyd
Wright and author and editor of many art books. Hanks received a B.S.
degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1956 and the following
year did special studies at Wheaton Graduate School of Theology. He earned a
B.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1960 and was ordained in the St.
Louis Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for work with the
Latin America Mission in Costa Rica.
Beginning in 1963, Tom and his wife Joyce were engaged in university work in
Costa Rica as counselors for the Inter-Varsity organization. Their
children, Stanley (b. 1964) and Elizabeth (b. 1966) were born there. Hanks
also served as professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the Seminario Biblico
Latinoamericano (now Universidad Biblica Latinomericana). During this period, he
earned an M.A. degree in religion from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
and Northwestern University (1968) and a Th.D. in Hebrew Scriptures from
Concordia Seminary in St. Louis (1972). In 1986, Tom and Joyce moved to Buenos
Aires, Argentina, where Tom worked for three years with Dr. Rene Padilla of the
Latin American Theological Fraternity, writing and editing a pastoral
theological dictionary.
Hanks had been aware of his sexual
orientation from earliest adolescence. While at Wheaton, Princeton and
Garrett, he was encouraged by counselors and psychologists to try to change his
sexual orientation by psychoanalysis and marriage. Later missionary colleagues
involved in ex-gay type ministries sought to "cure" his homosexuality with
prayer, fasting and involvement in charismatic movements. Tom had told Joyce
about his homosexuality before their engagement, but after 28 years of marriage
and trying to conform to heterosexual norms, Tom and Joyce separated in December
of 1988. The following month (January 1989) Hanks was obliged to resign from his
position with the Latin American Mission and in writing his resignation letter
came out as gay.
As Tom notes: "When the Holy Spirit finally got through to me and taught me
to accept myself as gay and begin to come out, I learned that I not only had a
daughter who was left-handed like her mother, but also a son who is gay like me.
So after more than 40 years in the closet I finally learned that some good
things just run in families!"
From 1989 to 1991, Hanks worked with Argentine pastor Roberto Gonzalez,
who founded the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in Buenos Aires, the first
in South America. He also served as an extension seminary professor for training
of MCC pastors in Latin America and wrote the New Testament article on
“Poor/Poverty” (including sexual minorities) for the Anchor Bible
Dictionary (Doubleday, 1992).
In 1992, Hanks and
John P. Doner (founder of the MCC in Mexico) founded Other Sheep, the only
worldwide ecumenical ministry working with sexual minorities. An all-volunteer
organization based in St. Louis, the scope of Other Sheep is international but
with special emphasis on Latin America, with some 70 related documentation
centers in that area (see www.othersheep.org). Hanks and Other Sheep
were instrumental in establishing a Working Party on Homophobia, Ideology and
Religion within the International Lesbian and Gay Association.
Hanks served as executive director of Other Sheep from 1992 to 2000 and
continues to be active in counseling, giving Bible courses especially for sexual
minorities, and writing. His published writings include: God So Loved the Third
World (Orbis, 1982); The Subversive Gospel (Pilgrim, 2000); and
the chapters on Romans and Hebrews for Que(e)ring the Bible, edited by
Bob Goss, Ronald Long, Deryn Guest and Mona West, to be published by Sheffield
Academic/Continuum in 2004. He has also completed a manuscript focusing on the
poor, women and sexual minorities in the Hebrew Bible.
(This biographical statement provided by Tom Hanks.)