God is Proud of You
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. - Psalm 139:13-14 (NRSV)
Happy PRIDE Month, First Church! Celebration of our LGBTQIA+ siblings is a time-honored tradition for us; last month marked 32 years as an officially Reconciling Congregation.
Each June I delight in the outpouring of rainbows, celebration, and loving affirmation that come from faith communities, many of which are loudly affirming year-round. By the grace of God, we meet beloved ones at these rainbow-laden celebrations whose lives are transformed when they find there are communities like ours who believe that God created us to love us and celebrates who we are, wherever we are on the spectrum of queerness. That indeed (as our stickers say), God is proud of us.
What a gift to be a witness of this good news! To speak loudly of the joy of queer folks, to be in a church who will covenant with and ordain LGBTQIA+ clergy, to celebrate same sex weddings: these are rights hard won that we work persistently to sustain.
As civil rights have been threatened and restricted in these years, we find harsh reminders of how vital it is to continue to witness to the inclusive good news that God shares with us.
It was not long ago while pastoring a different church that I would be routinely reprimanded by my Senior Pastor for using the word ‘celebrate’ when speaking of our queer siblings (I was allowed to ‘welcome,’ but to ‘celebrate’ was a step too far). It was even more recently that the United Methodist Church removed the exclusionary language from the Book of Discipline.
With these memories so fresh, I do not take PRIDE celebrations for granted.
We live in a moment when it is still foreign to many that there exist deeply faithful communities who celebrate queer identities. Queer children and youth are born into and raised up in denominations of all sorts, many of which are clear that they cannot be both queer and faithful.
We are clear that you can.
Every hand wave at PRIDE Parade, every baptismal vow rainbow t-shirt, every inclusive word we proclaim is a critical witness to these children, youth, and adults of the remarkably inclusive love of God. There are so many who need to hear this. As those committed to sharing our hope with others, we have a deep need to speak it.
After 32 years of loudly celebrating our LGBTQIA+ selves and siblings, let us not grow tired: say it loud and say it often:
God is proud of you, queer ones.
God is proud of you, questioning ones.
God is proud of you, trans ones.
God is proud of you, and this faith community is too.
Happy PRIDE!
Pastor Karyn
P.S. You can show off your faith-led PRIDE this month by taking a picture at the rainbow window of the church office and sharing it on socials (tag us on Instagram or Facebook).
P.P.S. Be a witness to the love of God by walking with us and other United Methodists at the Portland PRIDE Parade or joining the United Methodist PRIDE Festival booth, July 18-19. Email Pastor Rachel for more information.