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“No one tell my Nana that most of my clergy colleagues are queer.” - something I and Aldo Bellini might both say lmao.
Like I wish I was joking but honestly seminary could’ve been a pride parade and was undeniably campy and dramatic.
Even the person in charge of our marketing knew, our seminary t-shirts were done with lettering in rainbow font. 😭
I’ll have to do a series of posts on queer church history and the struggle for full inclusion, the right to be ordained or married regardless of your sexuality or gender identity.
It’s also one still being fought for in some Christian communities and traditions.
It is both/and.
Queer people have and always will exist, and yes, queer people of faith are present in pews and pulpits across the traditions and global geographical contexts.
The right to be ordained as an openly queer person has been fraught challenges; and even if your denomination is open and affirming on paper that doesn’t erase the realities of discrimination and queerphobia you may encounter.
If Vincent Benítez as an intersex person were to become pontiff irl, it would be earth shattering, and felt across the universal church, across traditions and denominations struggling to reconcile and respond to the magnitude of the revelation.
I literally giggle every time I think about the fact that my personal existence as a non-male queer person with a seminary education who has a career working in a religious adjacent role would absolutely break Goffredo Tedesco.
But you know who would think I’m an absolute delight? Benitez. 🫶😇
No one tell Tedesco that my bishop is a woman. Oh, and she wore these delightful red cowboy boots with her red stole and coordinating vestments to an ordination service I attended recently.
It was such an iconic outfit. Aldo would’ve approved me thinks. 😌
I’ll plug https://www.queertheology.com/ for my dears who looking for queer affirming religious community, support or vetted information at the intersection of queerness and faith.
If you’re not familiar with the #FaithfullyLGBT movement I would offer that lead as well.
Many of us - who are both queer and people of faith - carry a deep wound for the way queerphobia harms us.
I don’t really have an interest in arguing against the clobber passages or the misquoted out of context attempts of people with narrow worldviews to minimize or erase the fact queer people have and always will exist.
As my mom would say, “God doesn’t make junk.” I would add and “God made you - queer and all - that’s a beautiful and holy and good thing.”
Queerphobia is not the gospel. It is death dealing and it absolutely harms people. Full stop.
A measurement of whether something for me squares with the message of Jesus Christ is the question: is it life giving? Does this help me see the Imago Dei reflected in the face of the person next to me?
Because we are not meant to live in tombs of shame and mortification.
It makes me tired and sad - quite frankly is lazy biblical scholarship to misinterpret a complex, ancient holy text as one-dimensional.
We are speaking of not a one singular book but a collection of stories of people and communities experiencing encountering the Divine. And hell yeah, I also believe that God finds ways to speak to us anew in those ancient words.
It’s beautiful to think of the Bible as a library that we’ve been making a home out of for over 2,000 years and there are so many different perspectives that span across church history so many that you can’t contain Christianity or the Church to a singular neatly contained box.
Only the Sith and queerphobic bigots deal in absolutes, my sibling in Christ.
Love,
Rev. S
Queerness is already sacred we want to show you how After 10 years as the longest running LGBTQ+ spirituality podcast, […]
In the spirit of delightful things, I thought y’all might appreciate - might I introduce you to the term - Pridemas?
Or a liturgical observance of pride month in a delightful act of queer joy and resistance as queer Christians find ways to celebrate both our faith and queerness during the month of June - usually includes an observance of the anniversary anniversary of the Stonewall as a Feast Day.
Queerly Yours,
Rev. S
Today, I’m excited for the first day of the new month. Today marks the beginning of [Australian] winter and more importantly the day my mobi
My new blog post in biblical defense of the LGBTQ community and vision for the future is public. Check it out. Link in the bio Join the movement #queerclergy #reconcilingumc #jointhemovement
Last evening, a pre-annual conference worship service took place at the Great Plains Annual Conference. Close to 100 people took part in a celebration of communion and blessed Rev. Cynthia Meyer with a laying on of hands. She sent them forth with a challenge: "to be troubled enough to speak up and take action in Jesus' name!" #ItsTime #CalledOUT #AnnualConference #LGBTQ #QueerClergy
Today Rev. Sue Laurie was ordained by the Methodist people because as Wesley modeled, sometimes the need is too critical to wait on church authorities. #umcgc #itstime #queerclergy #ordination #umc
