#avery speaking

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Trinity Sunday: Mutual Indwelling - the Trinity, the Magnificat, and Us | Llama Pack Worship

A sermon by Avery Arden

If anyone's interested, I preached this weekend on queer visions of the Trinity + queer resonances in Mary's yes to social disgrace.

Listen at the above link or on:

Spotify

Podcast Addict

Deezer

And here's the transcript link!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Hi! I'm alive!

I have not been very active or responsive here for months; I've chosen to (/ in some cases had to) prioritize other things of late. But I'm still here! I'll share some of the things I've been up to under the readmore, but I'll start with this:

I'm really sorry to folks whose asks have gone unanswered.

I will try to get through some this month; but I won't manage to get through them all. If you are super in need of an answer, dm or send another ask letting me know and I'll make sure to prioritize yours <3

You can also try searching through my blog for answers; see this post for some of my most-used tags so you can search by topic.

Stuff I've been up to:

This past fall I was over the moon to be invited into several wonderful projects!

Two involved liturgy collections; one won't be out till Advent, but the other thing is A Sanctified Art's "Everything in Between" Lenten worship materials — I wrote a combined Maundy Thursday / Good Friday service for the collection.

The other project was a book coming out in spring 2026 on ministry with disabled youth. I almost couldn't believe it when I got an email inviting me to write a chapter of an anthology that will also hold the writings of real authors I've read! I wrote my chapter on "cripping" youth ministry by:

universalizing access (no more accomodations only for youth who have managed to get a diagnosis — everyone deserves to have their needs met);

integrating "crip genius / disabled wisdom" (drawing especially from Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha's writing);

and incorporating what Laverne Cox calls possibility models into lesson plans — for the purposes of youth ministry, this would include figures from scripture, across (Christian & other) history, and into the present who model possibilities beyond the absent or miserable futures society lays out for disabled, BIPOC, queer, and otherwise marginalized persons.

I'm also seeking to.....go back to school!

I'm a scholar at heart and I miss the chance to research and discuss in an academic community. I actually just got my rejection letter from Emory's PhD in religion program last week :(

I'm not surprised — it's an incredibly competitive program and I don't have the experience under my belt that some applicants likely do. Still. Sigh. I have big tangled Feelings about it, but I'll probably save those for my other more personal blog, @a-queer-seminarian. But I just submitted my application for Emory's Candler School of Religion's Doctor of Ministry program! which is a much less intense doctorate than a PhD, made for ministers to complete while continuing their usual work.

Also, its abbreviation is DMin, pronounced Demon. Which I'm sure I'll keep making jokes about long past everyone in my life finds it funny lmao

Finally, I've been working hard at working...less hard.

I've been in Autistic burnout since at least seminary, but still have pushed myself to get a certain amount of things done every month. This past year or so, my bodymind has been teaching me the hard lesson that I just. can't. do that anymore.

I've been trying to practice what I preach, to embrace crip time — for crip time is sabbath time is God's time. And we truly are beloved; we don't need to "produce" a damn thing to earn that love. Part of being in solidarity, of acknowledging our interdependence with God, humans, and the created world, is letting ourselves be cared for. Finding small creative ways to show our care.

In 2024 I finally did things I just "never got around to" before, like trying out new medications (wellbutrin & trazodone my beloved <3) and getting my labs done (turns out my body doesn't make its own folate so now I get it in pill form and I think it's really helped my energy and mood! Aaand I've been going to therapy. And trying to refocus on what matters to me most.

Okay that's enough. How are y'all? Where are you finding community? What sources of hope, wisdom, creativity have you found most helpful in a time such as this?

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Tags to help navigate this blog

While I invite all questions, I unfortunately don't have the time or spoons to answer every one. So I encourage (though don't require!) you to visit my FAQ before sending your ask.

Wandering through my most-used tags may also prove helpful! So here's a list.

POST CONTENTS:

Queer survival and thriving

On God

On Scipture

On Creation, Humanity, Salvation/Liberation

Communication and Relationships

Other Faith-Related Things

Various recs (music, podcasts, resources, etc.)

Miscellaneous

Queer Survival & Thriving

#affirmation – posts that affirm and support queer Christians

#validation – posts that show queer identities as valid

#encouragement

#good fruit

#in the closet - encouragement and advice when closeted

#coming out

#sex tag

#church hurt – stories of pain caused by the church and how to cope with such hurt

#leaving or finding a church – how to cope with leaving a church and how to find a new one

On God

#the nature of god

#Us and God

#God’s Love

#God of the oppressed

#God beyond gender

#the Body of Christ

#the human Jesus

#trans Jesus

#autistic Jesus

On Scripture

#Bible tag

#reading and studying the Bible

#bible study

#biblical women

On Creation, Humanity, & Salvation/Liberation

#Liberation Theology

#Black Theology

#Trans Theology

#Queer Theology

#Disability Theology

#asexuality and #aromanticism and #polyamory and #trans stuff and #trans women and #intersex and #bisexuality and #sapphic and #mlm

#Creation

#faith and science

#kingdom come – discussions on Heaven and Hell; see also #heaven and #hell

#fear of hell

#Salvation

Communication & Relationships

#dialogue tag – tips for engaging with conservatives / who otherwise don't share your beliefs

#rebuttals – tag full of responses to arguments commonly used by some Christians against LGBTA+ folks

#solidarity

#community

#family tag and #parent tag

#rejection

#racism and #white supremacy

#antisemitism and #supersessionism and #pharisees

#testimony tuesday and #storytelling saturday - tags full of stories sent in by mostly queer Christians

Other Faith-related Things

#devotional

#prayer tag

#interfaith

#other faiths tag

#new to christianity tag

#Saints tag – Saints who were queer themselves or with whom queer folks can strongly identify! 

#Catholic tag

#queer and catholic tag

#Mary tag (x) 

Various Recs

#recs

#resources

#podcasts

#books

Miscellaneous

#quote tag

#art tag

#chatting tag

#essays — posts where I wrote even more than normal lol. Usually well cited too

#ocd tag – coping with scrupulosity and support from Christians with OCD

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

What does it mean that you're a catholic presbyterian? What are your views on Church authority and predestination?

I like to imagine myself as a tree with Irish Catholic roots, a Presbyterian/Protestant trunk, and agnostic/ecumenical/interfaith-reaching branches.

I need all parts to be whole. All parts rely on Divine warmth, water, breath for life. All parts depend on a rich soil of scripture, story, and the wisdom of those who've come before me for nourishment and grounding.

___

The roots:

I was baptized and raised Roman Catholic. My family (and a large number of families in the area I grew up) has a proud history of Irish Catholicism in particular. My childhood church was Catholic, and I was passionate about participating in that community's life all through grade school.

Some of my earliest religion-related memories are of reading Saints' stories, establishing relationships with those who most spoke to me. Mother Mary has had my heart as far back as my memories go.

As I discovered my queerness in college and gradually realized the need to seek fully welcoming community, I did not leave behind those things I held most dear from Catholic spirituality.

Over the years, my connection to the Roman Catholic Church as an institution has fractured more and more; last May it splintered entirely. But I refuse to let Rome have a monopoly on Catholic faith, or on Mary and the Saints.

...Especially because Mary and the Saints were my greatest spiritual supports in college: with delighted wonder, I came to recognize how very queer my closest Saints were! They helped me embrace my queerness as a holy gift; I carried them with me into a little PC(USA) church that my then-girlfriend, now-wife found near our college campus.

The trunk:

The Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination holds me up in sturdy community: this is the denomination I'm currently "officially" part of — got my Masters of Divinity at a PCUSA seminary, got married in a PCUSA church, am on this denomination's ordination path.

This doesn't mean I think the PCUSA is the best religion or even the best form of mainline Protestantism. They all have their strengths and their flaws. But the PCUSA was the one that first came into my path, and I'm currently satisfied with my decision to commit myself to it — so long as it continues to make plenty of room for my Catholic roots and ecumenical branches.

The branches:

Though Louisville Seminary is a Presbyterian institution, when I attended from 2016-2019 at least 40% of my classmates and some of the staff there belonged to other denominations (or in a few cases, aren't Christian at all).

The opportunity to learn alongside folks from a variety of traditions was invaluable to my continued spiritual growth. I learned so much from them! I grew into my sense that all individuals and faith communities have something to teach us the Divine and about what it means to be human in relationship to Divinity and to Creation.

Then there's the agnostic part of the "branches":

Over the years I've also experienced more and more seasons where I'm just not sure that the Trinity, the Incarnation and Resurrection, and all that Christian-specific stuff is "real." But whether or not it is, I choose to remain committed to this path I'm on — with openness to fresh insights — because I do draw spiritual nourishment here. I do believe that the story of the Trinity and the Incarnation can guide us into living for Goodness, Justice, abundant life for all beings.

...Basically, I don't know whether it's all "true," but I do believe it holds powerful Truth; I remain committed to the Story.

(Also the bible has been my main special interest since i was like 6 so it's one of the main lenses through which i view the world so i'm stuck here for better or worse lfadfjalfjdalk;j! )

I believe it's imperative for Christians living in Christian supremacist cultures to practice humility above all else — to accept the fact that we don't have all the answers, that we're not the Most Right, that we don't enjoy unique favor with God. For me, identifying as agnostic reminds me that I don't know everything about God by any means, and may actually know very little at all. It reminds me to remain humble, open, and curious.

The fruit:

My hope is that this little tree that is me yields good fruit. I don't care if I have all the right answers, so long as I'm glorifying the Divine in some small way; easing suffering in some small way; bringing joy into this world in some small way. That's what matters to me.

________

I imagine the above implies my views on Church authority. If it doesn't, well, I'll just say I'm kind of an anarchist about church as much as anything else! The Church should never have come to wield as much power as it has. And whatever the "role" of the Church is in the Divine Story, I remember learning somewhere in seminary that the ultimate future of Church is to dissolve — that when we've experienced the full in-breaking of God's Kin-dom, there will be no more need for Church.

________

Not all Presbyterians hold to predestination — and for most I know who do, it's not really a central part of their faith life.

But sure, you could say I believe in predestination: I believe we are all predestined for participation in God's Kin-dom! :)

________

Further reading:

My tag of LGBTA patron Saints <3

My first podcast ep explores some of my spiritual journey

My queer and Catholic tag

Some other semi-related tags — good fruit tag; religious pluralism tag; evangelism tag; church hurt tag

My PCUSA tag, which includes a post with some old class notes about predestination

OH ALSO there's a podcast called "Called to Be Multiple" that interviews folks who draw from multiple faith sources. Cool stuff!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Message me if you'd like me to pull one of these cards at random for you, today or whenever! (And let me know if you'd like an image description included with it.) <3

This is my first oracle deck; I picked it up at a local Pride fest last weekend that had so much beautiful queer art :O I've had a couple friends read tarot for me in the past and enjoyed it, so when I saw these I figured, why not?

The creator, Barry Lee, was friendly & kind and posts more of their art + disability justice stuff on their instagram, barryleeart.

I've been pulling a card each morning for me and my wife to reflect on, and it's added moments of contemplation and meaning-making we might not have had otherwise.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Queer & Here to Stay! Pride month text prayers

Sup y’all! I’m a board member for More Light Presbyterians, and this Pride month, June 2023, we’ll be sharing short daily prayers with all who sign up to receive them via text.

The prayers will center around our theme for the month, “Here to Stay!” — a defiant celebration of how queer folk have always existed in our faith communities and always will.

If you’re interested in receiving these daily prayers, fill out this form — be sure to provide your phone number and check in the box that reads “I would like to receive daily text prayers in June.”

(You’ll notice that the form also has options to receive some liturgy + rsvp for a virtual service; feel free to say yes or no to those!)

I look forward to praying with you! May we remember always that queer & trans folk are beloved by the God who made us, just as we are <3

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Thanks so much to everyone who gave feedback on my new logo! Y’all helped a lot with balancing aesthetic & readability. I believe this is the finalized version, but I’m still happy to take last-minute suggestions :)

[id: blue square with all caps text reading “Blessed Are the Binary Breakers, a multifaith podcast of transgender stories.” The word “blessed” glows white, while “binary breakers” is pink with a slight shadowed outline. There’s a cracked glass graphic to the right side, and a glowing pink and blue hammer graphic under the word “breakers.”]

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

y'all....virtual church is such a trip.........i accidentally consecrated A MOLDY BISCUIT