Crossing the Bridge: From Mennonite Boy to Gay Man

"After a dramatic retelling of his own struggle to self acceptance, Helmuth announces to the world that he is gay, that he is proud, and that God loves him without reservation. There is no greater truth for the victims of untruth and Helmuth's autobiography proclaims that truth loud and clear."

-The Rev. Dr. Mel White, Founder of Soulforce and author of Stranger at the Gate and Religion Gone Bad

"Crossing the Bridge is a courageous memoir by a psychologist who has lived two lives, as a devoted husband for twenty-two years, and the father of two children, and as a gay man enjoying a stable and loving relationship with another man... Dr. James Helmuth grew up within the painfully narrow confines of the Mennonite religion and nearly took his own life in the process of discovering and living his true gay identity.

Unsparingly honest, this memoir reads often like a mystery story, sometimes like a tender recreation of the past - always as a poignant, bittersweet narrative of a boy becoming a man...and a man becoming his true self."

-Joseph Dispenza, author of God On Your Own and The Way of the Traveler

"What distinguishes Helmuth's story and gives it universality is how Helmuth, in finding his own voice, leaves no one he loves behind....he shows in this memoir how we must all achieve freedom or our lives become impossible. I suspect you will come to love the man and his unique voice; his journey belongs to us all."

Thomas Dukes, Ph.D. English Professor, The University of Akron

Dr. James Helmuth earned a Master’s Degree in Religion from Earlham School of Religion and a Ph.D. in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Akron. He is a licensed psychologist and owner of Helmuth Psychological Associates in Akron. He lives in Akron, Ohio, with his partner of twenty years.