Each June, our nation celebrate Pride Month, in which we celebrate the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual members of our communities. This year during Pride month, First Congregational Church will be kicking off a series called Queer Revival in our Koinonia community. We will be inviting in LGBTQQIA clergy from around the nation to speak during the Koinonia service and to hold workshops after worship. The final Sunday will be a time of celebration with a Pride party to follow the service.
Queer is an often misunderstood term. It has been often used in a derogatory way to insult those who are not heterosexual or who do not fit gender stereotypes. However, within the LGBTQQIA community, it is often used as shorthand for anyone or anything that does not fit stereotypes or assumed identities within dominant culture. Many within the LGBTQQIA Christian community seek to reclaim this term as a holy designation for the unique perspective, voice and gifts that queerness brings to our faith tradition.
FCCBC (as well as the United Church of Christ) stands in contrast to much of the Christian community as an open and affirming congregation. Even beyond being a welcoming place for LGBTQQIA people, we see that anything queer (stands in contrast to cultural norms) is of G-d. We want to spend time reviving and celebrating our commitment to embrace queerness in the way we love and live out our faith.
Leading up to Queer Revival, I will be leading Queer Theology 101 on Wednesday nights after Centerpoint (starting May 13). This study will examine our responsibility as Christians to understand the impact of queer theology on how we love one another, on our role in social justice action and on how we lead the way within the Christian community to adopt an attitude of radical welcome. —Jaimie Fales-Brown
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