When Responsibility Entered the Room: Interrogating the Silence in Christians' Life Narratives

This paper identifies some of the methodological considerations involved in narrative research with conservative faith groups, while addressing the things left unsaid through an exploration of silence in the author's own life narrative of faith and sexuality. The challenges posed by silence - temporal silence and concealment - require greater focus in narrative research methods. Moreover, the pervasive and palpable effects of silence in sexuality research with (nominally) Evangelical Christians calls into question what we (can) know about sexuality in conservative faith communities using qualitative research methods.