Author: Hannah Dorn

Step Out of Your Tomb

Hannah Dorn April 25, 2019 No Comments

By Rev. Kevin Strickland 

Scripture: John 20:19-31

It’s at the tomb that we discover things about ourselves.  It’s at the tomb that we come to make sense of the questions that have bogged us down these weeks of Lent, in our wilderness wandering.  At the tomb they all come together in one great, blinding awareness. Locked in the tombs of life, hidden in closets afraid to be our truest selves, or shackled behind doors of fear may feel easier than living in this post-tomb, post-Easter world.

When we lock doors, it is not just to keep things from coming in, it is also keeping things from going out.  When we lock the doors of our hearts or of our faith or of our churches from being the nail scarred hands and feet open and unlocked to a world around us, we keep things from coming in and going out.

We belong to the company of the faithful in all times and in all places with the fingers of Thomas, needing to touch our Lord.

We need, we yearn, we groan to embrace the fullness of Jesus’ crucified and risen body, because in our bodies we sense the turmoil of the lives around us:  young people who desperately seek discernment and question is church really meant for them, congregation members who wonder whether they will have a job tomorrow, colleagues who are burned out and wonder if their vocation is really cut out for them.  Not to mention our own question and needs and that of our family—did Jesus really die and rise? Such a reality seems fantastic, mythical to touch the bodies of today’s world, of our world, or my world.In baptism, we are submerged into God’s nail scarred, tomb laden love.

In baptism, God in Christ reminds us that Easter did not just happen; it is still happening. Christ rose, and so can we from the death of self-doubt, personal persecution, and faithless convictions.

Thank you, God, for Thomas.  We needed him in that room at the right moment.  It is a healthy, doubting, powerful faith that connects his body to Jesus’ body, and in doing so, our body with Jesus’ own body, scars, wounds and all.  With his rising, Jesus didn’t take on a brand-new body without any blemish; his resurrection body was the same one that was nailed to the tree. And that’s how it is with us and with the world around us—scars, wounds, and all.

May God grant us Thomas-like boldness with our faith to step out, unlock, and touch the wounds of those hands and feet that we meet all around us!

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia! Amen.

Bio: Rev. Kevin Strickland (he/him/his) has served as the Assistant to the Presiding Bishop and Executive for Worship since 2014. Prior to this call, he served as a parish pastor in Nashville, TN. He and his husband, Robby live in Chicago with their mostly adorable French Bulldog, Halsted.

Will You Wash Their Feet?

Hannah Dorn April 18, 2019 No Comments

By Rev. Lyle Beckman

Scripture:  John 13: 3-5, 12-14 (NRSV) Jesus … took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.  After he had washed their feet … he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord – and you are right, for that is what I am.  So if I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet”.

As a young pastor, I struggled with the Maundy Thursday practice of foot washing.  Too many pairs of pantyhose, giggling teenagers and congregants who said “No!” when invited.  My own insecurities as a young, gay (closeted) pastor shying away from such intimacy played a role in not fully experiencing the potential in this ritual.  Over the years however, I have appreciated it more.

Each Maundy Thursday 75 people living on the streets of San Francisco are willing to trust a group of pastors and seminarians to lovingly wash their feet, dress their wounds and let them be anointed and dressed in new socks.  Tears run down faces on both sides of the basin. Love and tenderness are shown. Healing and compassion are offered. Human contact connects us in community and to the divine presence in and around us.

Through Jesus’ example of washing feet, and in his life, death and resurrection, we are shown the depth of God’s love, and invited to share it wherever we can.  In our congregations for sure, but in the world as well, which is crying out for words and actions of hope, acceptance, forgiveness, welcome and love. Will you wash their feet?

Bio: Rev. Lyle Beckman (he/him/his) served as the Night Minister for the San Francisco Night Ministry until his retirement in September, 2018.  Night Ministry offers spiritual care, counseling and crisis intervention every night of the year from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am, hosts two outdoor worship services and several feeding and educational programs.  Beckman is currently serving as interim pastor of Christ Church, Lutheran, San Francisco.

Wandering in the Wilderness

Hannah Dorn March 28, 2019 1 Comment

By Rev. Brad Froslee

Ash Wednesday marked the twenty-sixth anniversary of my “official” coming out.  It was on this night, following the Ash Wednesday worship service, that I began sharing with friends a truth about myself—my being gay.  The worship service with its message of facing the fullness of life, of death, and life beyond death became the nudge that pushed me towards authentic living—marked in the brokenness and the beauty of the cross.  In the face of this period, a time marked by the AIDS pandemic, the stories of families disowning children, of ex-gay therapies, I knew that being marked with the ashes of the cross was God’s call to living fully, authentically, and faithfully…here and now. 

It would be eleven years later, nearly two weeks after Easter, that I would be ordained as a Lutheran pastor with a call to serve a Presbyterian Church. 

The years between that Ash Wednesday service in college and the Easter-season ordination would, in many ways, feel like a time of wandering through the wilderness—of keeping faith in the midst of a broken Church; of trekking across the country for school, of journeying to the other side of the country for CPE and again for Internship; of longing to find someone to share my life with; of meeting with a candidacy committee that threw Vision & Expectations in my face—only to approve me, because I wasn’t in a relationship at that time; of the hard work and challenges of staying hopeful when there was interview after interview with congregations who thought I was great, but weren’t quite ready for a “gay pastor.” 

Yet, now as I look back at these eleven years of “wandering in the wilderness” I realize how this time has formed me as the pastor and person I am today.

 I met some of the most amazing people and communities of faith; there was laughter, love, and strength mixed with the tears and frustrations; there were opportunities for side-winding trips—like being a publicist for a drag queen, waiting tables, caring for people living with HIV/AIDS, working alongside recent immigrants, immersing myself in justice work—that were life-giving; there were signs of God’s presence and care along the way. 

As I reflect on the sojourners of the Exodus, I hold on to the struggles, the questions, and the pain of the wilderness; yet, I am aware of how it formed them, how it forms us,  into a people of new and renewed faith and promise who dream and journey toward a place of promise.

Bio: Brad Froslee (he/him/his) lives in Minneapolis with his husband, Bill.  Their family also includes a very active 8 year-old son, a Border Collie, and a tabby cat.  Brad serves as senior pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Roseville.

Wisdom in the Wilderness

Hannah Dorn March 21, 2019 No Comments

By Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson

“And now, it is time to let grace abound! It’s time for gay people to build worshiping communities. It’s time for us to bring God’s good news, and not the church’s bad news, to the LGBTQ [sic] community. It’s time to care for the kicked-out, the runaway, the imprisoned, the friendless, the dying. It’s time to celebrate what has already been done. It is time to remember that we are the church. We celebrate God’s gracious gifts. We proclaim the love, the life, and the grace of God at work within us and our community. We demonstrate the gracious power and glory that is ours when we come out and take the step saying, ‘We are here. We are Gay and Lesbian and Bisexual and Transgendered [sic]. We are friends of Lesbians and Gays and Bisexuals and Transgendered [sic]. We are God’s. We are the kingdom.’ The most precious grace God gives us is the grace to be ourselves. And now, it is time to let grace abound.”- Joel Workin 

Often, when in the wilderness, I find myself hungry for wisdom and inspiration.

Because the wilderness can exist in my mind, my body, and my spirit, it can be quite overwhelming – this feeling of emptiness, being lost, disorientation.

In the context of wilderness, I find myself turning to the wisdom of prophets and ancestors as Mapmakers – using their maps to guide me today as I journey further into new territories.

Those whose wisdom and understanding hold a space that is beyond time or place. Whose words and actions are a gentle hand against my back encouraging me and propelling me forward.

Like Joel.

As one of the “Berkeley Four,” Joel paved a path for me to enter candidacy and serve the church as an out queer woman when he challenged church doctrine by coming out as gay at PLTS with Jeff, Greg, and Jim in 1987.

Joel never saw the day when the church opened its doors to publicly out LGBTQIA+ pastors and deacons. He died in 1995.

And yet, he did.

Joel had a vision of God’s kin-dom of inclusion and wholeness for gender and sexual minorities and it propelled him in his work and his words.

Joel didn’t have to live in it to know it was possible.

I can only imagine who the prophets and ancestors were whose hand was at Joel’s back.

I count them as my prophets and ancestors too, even if I can’t name them.

God of counsel and wisdom, you have gifted your creation with the words, actions, and hearts of great prophets and sages. Thank you for the comfort and challenge this wisdom encourages and for the reminder that we are always surrounded by those determined to share your love for all. Amen.



Bio: Amanda (she/her/hers) is the Executive Director of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries. She thinks you should know a bit more about Joel:


Joel Raydon Workin (1961-1995) In 1987, Joel came out publicly as a gay  candidate for the ordained ministry. Following this courageous and faithful act, Joel’s certification was revoked by the ELCA and his name was never placed on the roster of approved candidates waiting for call. Joel’s ministry continued in Los Angeles, however, at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and as Director of Chris Brownlie Hospice. He and his husband Paul were active in Lutherans Concerned/Los Angeles and Dignity/Los Angeles. The Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholarship Fund was established upon Joel’s death from AIDS on November 29, 1995. In keeping with Joel’s wishes, awards from the fund are used to provide scholarships to publicly-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer seminary students who proclaim God’s love and seek justice for all. The fund is managed by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries.

Meeting God on the Dance Floor

Hannah Dorn March 19, 2019 No Comments

By Proclaim Member Alex Aivers

When I feel like I’m in the wilderness of my soul, there is an emphasis on the experience being ‘wild.’ I can’t tell what is right or wrong, or which way is up or down.

One way I seek to help me tame this wildness is on the dance floor.

This is where the unseen wilderness of my soul can become physically manifested.

The particular place I do this is key: while surrounded by my LGBTQIA+ siblings in a bar devoted to us. And if these LGBTQIA+ siblings are Christian, even better! Here, the dance floor becomes a place of healing. It becomes a holy place.

With myself and other bodies moving in time with the music, it can look like a whirlwind from the outside. But this is often when I feel most close to God and can acutely sense that God is near me.

Out of this whirlwind of music and bodies, I can find clarity.Job faced a time of being in the wilderness during his life. He lost his family and property, and then his health. It even appeared that God was not innocent in these happenings.

Those of us in the LGBTQIA community can feel similarly. We suffer hardships on account of who we love and/or how we present ourselves to the world. And it can appear that God is not innocent in causing these sufferings.

We can feel as Job feels “For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.” 

But then, out of this whirlwind, God speaks to us.

Even if God doesn’t tell us why these things are happening, God is still speaking to us.

Even during the times of wilderness in our lives, God still wants to draw near to us and touch our soul.

Bio: Alex Aivars is a candidate in Word and Sacrament, awaiting first-call. I worked in Web development for 7 years before getting the call to ministry at a Gay Christian Network (now Q Christian Fellowship) conference. In addition to dancing, I also love being in nature and reading.

Lost or Courageous

Hannah Dorn March 7, 2019 No Comments

By S. Leon LaCross

Macintosh HD:Users:LeonLaCross:Desktop:Queer Sheep.jpg
Source: https://nakedpastor.com/when-you-know-youre-not-fully-welcomed/

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?” Luke 15:4

It’s easy to write this sheep off as sinful and in need of saving.  However, I’m proposing that this sheep is brave. It takes a lot of courage to strike off on your own and do your own thing.  As the Joel R. Workin Scholar, I’ve been identified as having a prophetic voice; but I don’t always hear it.

I fall into the trap of doubting myself, self-sabotaging and otherwise getting down on myself.  I drift off from my community and feel like a pariah. But just when I think I’ve gone too far afield, when I’ve lost hope, when I start to get my wooly coat caught in the brambles, I’m found again.  

I’m reminded that I have a flock of rainbow sheep that want me around.  I bump into a queer colleague, sigh too deep for words, and appreciate each other’s struggle.  I’m not alone out there.  

To get intertextual, we are all in the wilderness, calling out…but we’re not making the roads straight.  We’re skipping down the yellow brick road, over the rainbow, and into a brave new day, collecting friends along the way.

Good Shepherd, you tend every flock and gather in your forgotten sheep.  Help us to be the shepherds searching for our siblings who have drifted away.  Help us to be brave sheep, daring to forge new paths. Be with us in the wilderness and help us to hold space for those who have not yet found their flock.  You rejoice with us as we are reunited with our kindred. Tend to us on our Lenten journey. Amen.

Bio: S. Leon LaCross (he/they) is a third year seminarian at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary pursuing a masters in Divinity with hopes to be ordained. His specific academic interests revolve around sex, sexuality, and gender as they intersect with theology.  He is an adoring partner to his boyfriend, Noah (he/they), and a part time step-father for Noah’s cat Moxie (she/her) and dog Mr. Pickles (he/him). They enjoy cooking, gaming and gardening together as well as generally trying to become literally the gayest.

The Power of Your Story: Why We Need to Come Out as Queer Christians

Hannah Dorn February 28, 2019 No Comments

By Mikah Meyer 

“My whole life I’ve assumed God messed up on me,” a 20-something let out while stoically holding back tears.

He approached me after a church hosted a presentation about my journey to all 418 National Park Service sites.

But just as my talk wasn’t only about the national parks, so too was this young man’s story not solely about believing God faulted in creating him. And indeed, after hearing how my parks journey was largely due to being an openly gay Christian, this young adult felt safe enough to share the other half of his statement:

“But now I realize He made me this way. It’s not a flaw that I’m gay.”

As I internally cheered this queer person’s assertion, my heart also broke that he’d carried those initial thoughts for over 20 years.

And while I wish I could say this was the only time I’d heard that story, the truth is it’s just one of thousands. From teenagers, young adults, 30-somethings, retirees, and even ministers and those in opposite-sex marriages. A few words shared after presenting my “National Parks Cabaret,” after guest preaching at a church, or sent in desperation over Instagram—all expressing that for the first time they’d felt safe to share they were a queer Christ follower.

“What is the Church doing wrong,” I often lament to close friends, “that all these people feel a stranger from the stage/internet is the only person they can confide in?”

Yes, I had intentionally put myself and my story as a gay Christian in the media, using a 3-year road trip and world record attempt to draw the attention. But I was not a church leader. I did not have seminary training that should allow me to seek out those struggling with their faith. And I was certainly not an ordained minister.

I was just some dude waving a rainbow flag in the national parks.

But perhaps that’s the point of this story.

I was 19-years-old before I met an openly gay adult. And in my mid-20s before meeting an openly gay Christian. And though it took longer than I wished, it was these encounters that eventually led me to come out.

My life was not changed by some famous person or a praised religious leader.

It was normal, everyday queer people living their lives openly and authentically that opened my eyes and heart to a future I’d never seen until seeing them.

Mine was the same story I heard from a boy over Instagram who messaged:

“I’m 15-years-old, I go to a private Baptist school in Texas and I’m not out to anyone. But after seeing who you are, I know not only can I grow up to be ordinary…but also extraordinary.”

Never doubt that each and every one of you, whether a minister, lay person, or an ally, can change someone’s world—and in turn collectively the world—by living openly and honestly as a queer person of faith or Christian who believes God loves LGBTQ+ people as they are.

If the experience of my parks journey has taught me anything, it’s that one doesn’t need to be plastered on the headlines or across social media to allow someone to feel closer to God and their true selves.

One only need live their life proudly and authentically as the beautiful people God made them.

So that through sharing your story, others can know they can be both ordinary, and extraordinary.

Bio: Mikah Meyer is an ELCA campus minister’s son who swore he’d never grow up to be a pastor like his dad. He now spends his time traveling to churches & ministries around the world sharing the Gospel–particularly at colleges—making him in fact: A campus minister.

Who is God Calling?

Hannah Dorn February 21, 2019 No Comments

By Rev. Lamont Wells Director for Evangelical Mission for the Metropolitan New York Synod

For far too long the question of who should be allowed into Church leadership has always been a heavily contentious subject. It was in the 16th century that Martin Luther advocated for the “priesthood of all believers” (so long as they weren’t women). It almost took another 450-500 years before women were allowed into leadership positions in the Church. The injustices of exclusion still strongly affect women, disproportionately people of color, and the LGBTQIA+ community. As we approach the 10th Anniversary of the ELCA’s 2009 affirmative vote for inclusivity for LGBTQIA+ leadership, it’s my hope to realize the importance of increasing leadership opportunities from within the same gender loving and gender non-conforming communities.

As a mark of solidarity, I empathize with the painful realities of serving for years in conference and Synodical leadership and rarely seeing leadership that reflected my ethnic image or cultural heritage.  Because of this lack of diversity and inclusivity, I have developed an internalized trauma that questions whether it is even possible to have multiple leaders of color to ascend to the various elected leadership roles within the Church.  In 2018, we experienced the winds of the Spirit blow in a dynamic way that blessed the Church with a historic election of the first two African Descent women to the bishopric. However, my greatest concern is that the Church won’t recognize their elections as a movement for change and greater inclusivity, but rather a moment of accomplished mission and achievement.

My hope and cure for my internalized trauma is to see a robust trend in our Church (the ELCA) toward a diverse assembling of key leadership that keeps breaking barriers and that accepts differences in the intersectionality of humanity. This would create an institutional climate that provides models of leadership that so many more children of God can relate and connect to without waiting for the minimal exceptions.  As the National President of the African Descent Lutheran Association (ADLA), it is my intention to work with ELM, WELCA and other ethnic specific associations to organize and advocate for leaders who bring our Church the gifts of greater diversity.  In our indigenous expression as people of African Descent, same gender leadership and individuals were not a problem but always seen as key participants and “gifted ones” in the beauty of a diverse community. Knowing that God can use us all, we must support opportunities to choose leaders that God is raising from Seneca Falls, Selma, Stonewall, and Standing Rock.

Bio: The Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells is the Assistant to the Bishop/ Director for Evangelical Mission in the Metropolitan New York Synod.  Pastor Wells is responsible for coordinating the development of stewardship resources and missional leadership for over 200 new and renewing congregations/ministries.  He is currently the National President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s ‘African Descent Lutheran Association’ (ADLA). In his role, his leadership is the primary ecclesiastical voice of justice and equality for over 50,000 Lutherans of African Descent in the U.S.A.  For many years he hosted a weekly radio program, “A Positive Message for Powerful Living with Pastor Lamont Wells,” in Philadelphia. In his ministerial career, Rev. Wells has pastored religious communities of multiple denominations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia, including having served as the Lutheran Campus Pastor for the Atlanta University Center (AUC).

Guided by the principle that a personal relationship with God is an essential life strategy, Rev. Wells is committed to a life of contemplative prayer and critical study of scripture.  He consistently expounds in his theology that, “God’s grace allows us to know that all things work together for good to them that love God…” (Romans 8:28 – his favorite Bible verse)

Vlog with Bishop Jim Hazelwood

Hannah Dorn February 14, 2019 No Comments

Bio: Bishop Jim Hazelwood (he/him/his) was born in Concord, MA.  Not raised in the church, he was baptized at age 21 while serving at El Camino Pines, a Lutheran Camp in Southern California.  BA Cal Lutheran University, M.Div PLTS, D.Min Fuller Seminary Pasadena, CA. Pastor 1987 to 1993 Bethany Lutheran Brooklyn NY 1993 to 2012 St Andrew Charlestown RI. 2012 to present Bishop.  Married to Lisa, Father and now Grandfather. When not bishoping he is bicycling, swimming, doing stand up comedy and writing a book on Everyday Spirituality.

Going Beyond the Hug

Hannah Dorn February 7, 2019 No Comments

By Sara Cunningham , Executive Director & CEO of Free Mom Hugs

When I was a child, my mother called me “Goose,” I am certain now more than ever this was because of my natural ability to put my nose into other people’s business. I needed to know what was going on, if everyone was ok, and most importantly when we could all get together again. Community was everything to me then, and it certainly is my focus every day now.

My Journey to becoming an ally began with the words from my child, “Mom I’ve met someone, and I need you to be okay about it.” I didn’t take the news very well, and I said and did some things I regret even to this day.

I had to re-examine my religion as it suggested that I needed to choose between my faith and my child. I discovered, with the help of some others who came alongside me, that what I believed about LGBTQIA+ people came from a few verses in the Bible that had been misinterpreted and misunderstood. From there, my journey went from the church to the local pride parade wearing a homemade button and offering Free Mom Hugs or High Fives.

Picture from Sara’s original viral Facebook post.

I wasn’t the first mom to show up at a Pride Parade offering love and hope and hugs, but I did create a non-profit based on that experience. After my post about being a stand-in mom at same-sex weddings went viral; what we have seen has been a movement of love and celebration for the LGBTQIA+ Community.

It has been the most amazing gift dropped in our laps as far as getting the message out to moms, dads, educators, and churches that NOW is the time to get educated, to step out of fear and ignorance and come out of their own closets to speak out on behalf of their children.

But what has been even more beautiful is the community, the connection and healing that is taking place in the lives of LGBTQIA+ youth and adults due to the thousands of compassionate, empowered people who are responding and offering support, birthday cards, words of affirmation, homemade blankets, and other simple but very important small gestures such as referring to a transgender person by their chosen name.

We also recently had a follower on Instagram post about their 11-year-old child who attempted suicide because of intense scrutiny and bullying from family and school. We noticed the post and got our group of “Mama Bears to the Rescue” their address and when the young girl came home from the hospital, she was surprised by dozens of cards, stuffed animals and blankets from Mamas all across the country. These small acts of kindness, this kind of loving presence in the life of that child and her Mama delivered a message of love and hope that was life-changing for them.

Picture of Jamie Lee Curtis and Sara Cunningham. Jamie Lee Curtis will be portraying Sara’s journey as a proud Mama Bear in an upcoming Hollywood film. 

This is where we are going Beyond The Hug. We are supporting homeless youth with Free Mom Hugs Hoodies. We are helping our transgender friends fund legal fees for gender name changes, emotional and financial support after top- surgeries; we travel to small-town colleges and encourage their GSA’s. We are educating on behalf of our communities in schools and in the workplace. We are advocating on behalf of mental health awareness, ending workplace discrimination, and putting an end to once and for all the mental abuse that is conversion therapy.

So many young LGBTQIA+ people are hurting from family rejection and rigid religious beliefs. This is why I support LGBTQIA+ ministries like Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries who, every day, affirm & inspire bold loving leaders to Proclaim the gospel in the world. We may not be able to change every heart and mind – we may not be able to solve most problems – but one thing we can all do is be a loving presence in the life of LGBTQIA+ people. Anyone reading this can send a card, speak words of affirmation, get together with someone for a coffee, give a small gift, use someone’s chosen name, give a hug. These are things we can all do. 

My hope is that my journey will inspire all of you to want to be a loving presence in the life of LGBTQIA+ people.

Together I believe we can change the world, so it is a kinder, safer, more loving place for all people to live.

Love wins. Hugs and high fives help too. 

Bio: Sara Cunningham is the Founder of Free Mom Hugs and has a heart as deep and wide as the ocean, and a commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community that matches it. Sara has very recently been featured on the Today Show, CNN, and has been viewed by millions on social media. What does Free Mom Hugs mean to her? “For me, it just represents unconditional love,” she said. “Everyone needs love and understanding from their mother.”