“What’s it like being a pastor so close to the Capitol?” This is a question I’m often asked when people visit Lutheran Church of the Reformation for the first time or learn about where we are in DC. Located behind the Supreme Court and a block from the United States Capitol building, Reformation DC is the closest congregation of any faith community to these institutions. I get it and it’s a fair question, but when someone asked me recently ”What’s it like to do ministry in the shadow of the Capitol? I bet it’s hard not to be political!”, I responded, “I wonder what it’s like governing in the light of the church?”
As Christians, we follow a man who was political. The Good News that he proclaimed empowers us to be political. The Jesus I know and the Gospel I read are inherently political. Neither are partisan but it’s right there in the Greek, politikos: of, for, or relating to citizens. So while “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”, we can insist that religious values be used to govern. And much deeper values than the #ThoughtsAndPrayers that are too often tweeted out.
What, then, does the embodiment of thoughts and prayers look like? Action.
Hollow statements and shallow prayers mean nothing without actions behind them for government leaders and for us. Lifting up our voices is prayer embodied. Organizing is prayer in action. Marching and resisting and holding elected leaders accountable is what we know, as Lutherans, what we are freed in Christ to do. Living out our faith is placing a sure trust in the grace of God and in that confidence, we are called to act.
In his 1980 lecture The Relationship of the Christian Faith to Political Praxis, theologian James Cone asserts that “praxis for the purposes of societal change is what distinguishes liberation theologies” (Black, Feminist, Womanist) from others. As queer folx, we too “share the conviction that truth is found in the active transformation of unjust societal structures.” We continue to work for this active transformation both in the Church and in the world.
Soon, eligible voters have the privilege and opportunity to embody our prayers at the ballot box, either by filling out our ballots in our homes or at a polling place. Soon, we will take our thoughts and our prayers with us to vote, I hope, with Christian values.
Christian values that prioritize Creation and stewarding the abundance God has blessed us with. Christian values that cry out for the release of those imprisoned and the freedom of the oppressed.
Christian values that demand #BlackTransLivesMatter in all aspects of life and ministry.
Christian values that welcome and take care of the sick and the stranger.
Christian values that insist that the powerful be brought down from their thrones and the lowly lifted up.
Christian values that advocate that the hungry are filled with good things and the rich are sent away empty.
Christian values that care for the wellbeing and health of our neighbors here and abroad.
I have yet to do my ministry in the shadow of the Capitol because the Light of the World shines too brightly. I can only think and pray and act with the love that Jesus brings and the justice that Jesus insists upon. I am so grateful that all aspects of my life are influenced and informed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, including my politics.
Rev. Ben Hogue was blessed to bring the words of his saint-mentor Joel Workin into the halls of Congress, opening the House of Representatives in prayer on the day of his installation at Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Ben lives next to Reformation with his fiancé Marshall, and their Beltway boys, Bogart (cat) and Bosco (dog). He is very excited that candy corn is back on store shelves.
The newest Hairspray movie came out soon after I did. As a gay kid who went to college in rural South Dakota with limited options for fun, my friends and I would blast the Hairspray CD soundtrack as we drove down country roads taking time off from our textbooks for singing & dancing.
While not perfect, Hairspray is a liberative story that affirms “people who are different, their time is coming,” specifically for people of color. Based on true events, Hairspray tells the story of how one Baltimore TV station, in particular the Corny Collins Show, integrated their after-school teen dancing program. One particular song “Welcome to the 60’s” portrays Tracy’s gracious way of telling her mom to “get with the times” and while Tracy listens to her mother’s fears, she encourages her to step out anyway. During this song Tracy continually but sternly points at the tv, making her mother look at the screen. I’m about to take a leap here, but please go with me.
The Church is Mama Turnblad.
Do you see it now?
“I haven’t left this house since 1951?” – Mama Turnblad
Soon after that Tracy grabs her mother’s hand and leads her out the door until they’re outside and Mama Turnblad says, “Oh Tracy, I’m a little light-headed. There’s so much air out here. Can’t we go someplace that’s stuffy?” Tracy said, “No.”
However, the most iconic line happens, and if you blink you might miss it, Mama Turnblad says, “Your Mama’s lookin’ at herself and wonderin’ ‘where you been?'” To which Tracy immediately replies with “Where you been?!”
My Dear Church, where you been?! (To boldly paraphrase my beloved Rev. Lenny Duncan)
Now for the big finish, if you’re familiar with this movie musical then you know one of the most iconic songs in Hairspray is Motormouth Maybelle’s “I know where I’ve been” in an AMAZING performance by Queen Latifah. To me, this call and response “Where you been?!” and “I know where I’ve been” is intentional and profoundly poignant.
The reality is, for the most part, we were handed a church that acts like Mama Turnblad. The younger generations continue to pull the church into new times, pointing continuously at the tv, pleading to “get with the times”, leave your “stuffy” sanctuaries that you “haven’t left since 1951”. This call is not new, and neither is the resistance. But, it’s my belief, our collective call is to take Mama Turnblad by the hand and lead her outside into the world until she realizes she has a voice of her own and that voice has the power to make changes in the world. The hope, however, is that someday (hopefully soon) rather than taking Mama Turnblad’s hand and (sometimes forcefully) leading her out the door into the world, we’ll have a church that personifies and literally acts like & resembles Motormouth Maybelle, a church that knows where it’s been, was a leader in the struggle, has pride in her heart because she knows she’s doing the right thing even though it’s hard, and then and ONLY THEN will our hands be gently holding each other side by side walking in the streets rather than tugging a hand that will hopefully come along like Mama Turnblad. If you don’t know where you been, how do you know where you’re going?
Let us pray, Gracious God, we confess at times we have all been Mama Turnblad, resistant to change, afraid, overly-conscious of how other’s might perceive us, but with kind hearts still. Mold us into leaders like Motormouth Maybelle, may we be a church that is fierce, fabulous, gracious, authentic, aware of other’s struggle, and present in the moment. Amen.
Lewis Eggleston (he/him/his) is the Associate Director of Development and Communications for ELM. He currently lives in Germany with his dog-child and husband awaiting the day he can travel back to visit parents, siblings, and all the nieces and nephews. He is spending his time getting to know his little village and walking the trails around the town castle. Waiting for the day he can be in another musical.
We are living in strange and wild times. Times that many of us have never experienced before. Many are living alone, seeing few people, and the people they are seeing are their neighbors who give them the occasional nod, and the grocery store clerk that has been working since the pandemic hit hard in March of this year. The first few weeks of “sheltering in place” weren’t too bad for me, personally. I remember seeing memes that read, “I didn’t know my preferred state of being was called quarantine.” I am a homebody and didn’t mind working from home and only going out to walk the dog and for grocery store runs.
It is now March 235th and I feel differently. I feel lonely and worried and afraid for the future and I’m sure so many of us do. Especially for those of us with histories of trauma, living through an in real-time trauma can exacerbate our feelings of loneliness, isolation, sadness, and worry, just to name a few. One place that I find solace, where I can go to regulate my emotions, my body, and my spirit, is music. It’s also where I’ve always found God. Listening to her music made me feel like I was being wrapped up in God’s arms. Her words and voice made me feel seen in a way I had never known. In 2003, my mom took me to see Cher perform with Cyndi Lauper, a real dream come true. When Cher sang, “A Song for the Lonely”, I felt the closeness of God and all of her majesty.
So let it find you Where ever you may go I’m right beside you Don’t have to look no more You don’t have to look no more, oh no
Her prayerful words in this song have once again found their way onto my “How to Survive A Pandemic” playlist and they continue to bring me comfort and I continue to find God in her captivating voice. I pray that you find comfort in these times of unknown and fear and worry. May God in all of her glory come to you in the mysterious and surprising ways she always does.
Margarette (she/her/hers) has spent these months during quarantine learning new crochet patterns and moonlighting as a Logistics Specialist for a plant-based meal delivery company. This summer she served as a camp counselor with Queeranteen Camp and participated in a 6-week workshop for queer/trans Iranian-Americans. She will begin her final year of seminary as the Vicar at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oakland, CA. Margarette is a board member of ELM and was part of the planning team for the 30th anniversary of ELM. She lives in Richmond, CA, with her wife, Abby, and their dog Luther. They’re excited to share that they are expecting their first (human) child at the end of this year!
When I came out in 1996 I went on a crash-course epic journey of lesbian fashion tropes. I spent a sweaty New York Pride season in high femme rockabilly, a festie folk Pride in rainbow-striped bandana head wraps and bohemian skirts with ankle bells, and a Pride in gayboy sidekick mode looking like a misplaced Anime character. “Shame on You” was the anthem of my blue jean Pride summer. Retro t-shirts, faded denim, and the inevitable Birkenstock sandals didn’t matter that year as much as the music. Those years in the late 90s saw movement in creation care and planet activism, immigration as a human right touchstone, and a resurgence of feminism in a Womanist reconceiving that embraced Black and Latinx women and femme voices (or at least finally started trying to).
The song “Shame on You” was the lesbian song of the summer, not because it unabashedly celebrated the hard work and divinely sparked humanity of undocumented immigrants while highlighting their contributions to American life, but because it was “a bop”. The song is joyful, upbeat, and imminently singable. It’s infectious, pop-flavored beat is inviting, playful, and irrepressible. Today, in the year of rapid-fire apocalypse aka 2020, I realize how prophetic that vibe was for a sustainable revolution.
In Nehemiah 8:10 we read “The joy of the Lord is your strength” and know we are called to live in such a way that we bring pleasure and joy to God, but think of those who you love in this life. Your partner/s, your care circle or family, your children, and dear friends…what can they do that makes you the happiest? What makes me happiest in my relationship is my spouse’s happiness. Her smile, her playfulness, her relaxation, her satisfaction, her JOY is my joy. If joy comes from love and love is of God then is our rampant, wanton, wild joy perhaps amazingly pleasing to God? Does God giggle and spontaneously clap with a delighted bounce when we are filled with joy? I think it is Biblical to believe so. In Psalm 65, 96, 98 (and countless others) the same earth that God clearly claims as good sings and shouts for joy. God “delights” in the prophet Samuel and King David. Our God is a HAPPY God, and at no time does that make God any less powerful or capable of miracles.
Pride was, and must continue to be, a revolution. It is a deliberate stand against the status quo and a blatant refusal to alter our personal truth for the comfort of those perpetuating or being complicit in our oppression. We are doing powerful and serious work. As the public demonstrations just in 2020 have shown us, from vigils to shut down immigration detention centers, to marching for healthcare as a human right during a pandemic, to standing with Black Lives Matter, there is still a lot of work left to do. If we approach the intersectional and myriad struggles of this broken world without joy, how sustainable will we be?
Pride is a revolution, and no less so because it is also a party. We WILL free slaves with Moses and Miriam and Aaron and then, like them, we will have a karaoke dance party to celebrate it. We will praise God in a revolutionary way by naming and affirming the beauty of God’s creation, namely, each other. We will look at each other and say “It is good”. We will, like Amy and Emily of the Indigo Girls, tell our immigrant siblings “they shine like the sun” AND we will fight for their freedom. We will wash off our sins in the river even as the river playfully sings “lalala”. We will confront police brutality, gentrification, internalized shame and identity struggles just like The Indigo Girls do AND we will wear fabulous clothing, dance, and spend time with our beloved friends like they do in the same song.
Our joy, in a world that actively seeks our oppression, is a defiant act of resistance.
Take Sabbath, be happy, practice love of self and others. It’s Biblical. It honors the saints of Stonewall. It’s healthy self-care for a sustainable movement. It’s, simply, fun. And that is good. Let’s pray.
God of every good thing, thank you for the gift of joy, echoed in creation and Pride anthems. Strengthen us for generational journeys toward equality, that our memory and music will be an inspiration to generations. In the beautiful name of Jesus, Amen.
The Rev. Carla Christopher Wilson (she/her) is a redevelopment pastor serving a congregation in Lancaster, PA. Also the co-chair of Lower Susquehanna Synod’s Racial Justice Task Force, Carla is a queer femme Black (and a little Latinx) warrior for self-care and mental health. A former Poet Laureate of York, PA and a published writer, Carla continues to side hustle as a poet until her latest book, Black Catechism, is released later this summer.
Like a lot of gay men of my generation, I did not even begin to explore what it meant to be gay, much less come out, until my mid-thirties. Unlike most of them, I arrived on the scene directly from a monastery rather than a relationship with a woman. But, like them, I was the proverbial kid in the candy store. A quarter of a century later, (twenty of those with my spouse), I am sometimes tempted to look back on those years with shame. A committed monogamous relationship wasn’t on my agenda.
I was looking. In the words of a song I often heard on my first forays into the bars, I was looking for an angel. I needed angels right then who would tell me that I was desirable. I needed angels to be patient with my inexperience. I needed angels who would help me find a new sense of belonging.
I prayed in sync with the hypnotic beat of “Send Me an Angel”. And, I believe, my prayers were answered with flesh and blood angels, genuine messengers of God. Mostly sweet, patient, generous, loving men, each of them angels unaware, who are all a part of who I am today, including and maybe even especially, the pastor part. When I am tempted to be ashamed of me in those early days or, worse, to see those men as themselves tempters, I remember my song from those days and the men who were an answer to my prayer. Perhaps you have your own angels whom you wish to remember. In this particularly devastating and yet hopeful Pride season, we stand in the midst of a great company of angels, praising God and joining in their song: “Holy, Holy, Holy!”
Austin Newberry (he, him, his) is serving in his first call as a pastor with the community gathered as First Lutheran Church in Louisville, KY and lives with his spouse in Columbus, IN.
The Joel R. Workin Scholarship Committee is thrilled to announce that the 2020 Workin Scholar is Reed Fowler!
Reed Fowler, 2020 Workin Scholar
Reed Fowler (they/them) grew up in rural Vermont and completed seminary coursework at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in May 2020, focusing on arts integration in ministry and expansive pastoral care. Previously, they studied theater at NYU Abu Dhabi and worked as a dog and cat groomer. Reed will begin their internship year at St. John’s Lutheran Church, NYC in August. They will be accompanied on internship with their dog, Ari, and cat, Gizmo. In their downtime, Reed knits, sews, and watches competition cooking shows.
See below to read Committee Chair, Michael Price Nelson’s, congratulatory letter to Reed!
Dear Reed,
I write to inform you that the Joel R. Workin Scholarship Committee of ELM has selected you as this year’s Workin Scholar. It was our unanimous conclusion that your essay (reflecting on “Oh, You Shoulda Been There” by the late Joel Workin), was an impressive and moving reflection on the cross; two pandemics, AIDS and COVID -19; and, our own responsibility as Christians living through such challenging times.
“It suddenly feels much closer to the HIV/AIDs crisis. Where identities and cultural backgrounds are blamed for a virus. Where government response (or lack thereof) decides that some people are disposable. Decides that essential workers, low-wage workers, people without healthcare, people with preexisting conditions, Black and brown communities, undocumented communities, are disposable.
But those decisions are not of God. Those commemorated with a Quilt square were not disposable. Those who are dying of COVID are not disposable.”
You moved us as you described your own struggle to make sense of, or piece together, if you will, the brokenness of this moment:
“Liminal spaces often feel like fractured spaces. These days, I am longing to stitch pieces of life and experience together into a cohesive whole, into a cohesive narrative. I have been longing and dreaming towards a patchwork quilt where each square is worn, but bound together. Bound together with memory, grief, loss, and joy. Yet that is not how trauma works. Trauma breaks us into pieces. Into fragments … It feels like every time I stitch a piece of my past into my present, I notice even more floating fragments. Is God also fragmented? Human, Divine, Spirit, flesh, Creator, wounded? “
And what a beautiful answer you offer to the question!
“Yes, and no. Always yes, and no. God dances in the Trinity, weaves us together through the Holy Spirit, pushes us to endure the birthing pains of restoration. Death and victory are entwined, cross and tomb are entwined.”
You concluded with an elegant prayer, a plea to God and a call to action and I quote only a small part of it here:
“Surround us. Enfold us. Hold us as we weave together our own stories of resurrection, and resistance, and life. We pray this through our breath, through our heartbeats, through the wounded Christ and the joyful Spirit.”
On behalf of the committee, Reed, I congratulate you on your achievement!
Joel R. Workin Scholarship Fund
Joel Workin (left) and Paul Jenkins
Each year, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries names a Joel R. Workin Memorial Scholar to honor the life and ministry of Joel Workin. Joel was one of the three gay seminarians who were refused ordination in 1989 after “coming out” to their candidacy committees. Thanks to a generous endowment started by Joel’s friends and family at the time of his death, and with the support of other ongoing contributions, this award comes with a $6,500 scholarship for academic or spiritual study and is available to members of Proclaim.
So much is going on, but you can always come around. Why don’t you just sit with me for just a little while? Come and tell me, what’s wrong? Gimme all your love, gimme all you got. When I hear these lyrics, I clearly hear God’s cry for God’s people. I hear instructions for care and concern for each other. But when I take the time to listen deeply, I hear the many nuances and risks behind the words embedded in the music. I hear a divine embrace of the queer experience.
So many highs, so many lows both in register and volume. Different tempos, layers of instruments at different times, all sorts of textures, all contained within four minutes. Most popular music would not dare touch all of these elements in one song, but the Alabama Shakes do it with minimal lyrics and maximized emotion.
See, in Gimme All Your Love, there is no mistaking the contrasts and adventures in sound which relay a pronounced intensity open to the listener’s interpretations. Is Brittany Howard’s androgynous, raspy voice lamenting? Celebrating? Seducing? What are the Alabama Shakes trying to say with those four big notes followed by sparseness? What do we do with the open instrumental section in the second half? To me, these refreshing deviations from predictable pop music scream the queer experience. The rich textures of our voices carry the complex wisdom of life experiences. Taking risks for expansive, life-giving experience is something queer people know well. One second we are high on our own freedom and liberation, and the next we know the pain of phobias and -isms meant to trap us. So I am left wondering, are we hearing the music of our communities? And, what is the music of our own words?
In a world starving for liberation, God calls us to deeply listen to all of the LGBTQIA+ community, especially those living with layers of oppressed identities. We have the capacity to turn up the volume of these voices and listen for the many textures shaping them. We can make sure our words are more than words, that they are backed up by the act of making sound and the perpetual motion of tempo. We can take a back-up role when necessary, while also understanding when it is our time to be featured. We can also remember that we are part of one absolutely fabulous band, bound together by the music we make.
Let us pray…God of all sound and music, widen our capacity to listen. Sustain our voices when they proclaim the liberation found in Christ. Give us the breath of your Spirit to sing for justice. Bless the queer voices we bring to witness. Amen.
Kayla Sadowy (she/her) is a bi-vocational seminarian based in Philadelphia. Her work as a music therapist has proven the power of music to be a force for transformation and new life, especially to oppressed people. Kayla’s public witness seeks equity over equality, justice over fairness, and aesthetics over beauty. She loves cooking anything from scratch, hiking with her partner, and experimenting in ever-elusive urban gardening.
CW: mention of White Supremacy Culture, Police Violence, Transphobia
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Who makes you feel real?
I invite you to actually think about that.
Are there two, maybe three people in your life who help you feel acknowledged, loved, understood, and safe? Oh, and also affirmed in who you REALLY are?
We all deserve to be acknowledged and loved for who we really are, but for many, that is not the reality. Though we are known and loved by our Creator, human systems do not always follow this example.
George Floyd was lynched by Minneapolis police just over a month ago, on May 25. Two days later, Tony McDade, a trans man, was killed by police in Florida. Initial reports of his murder misgendered him.
White Supremacy relies on dehumanizing black and brown people, distancing from Blackness. Transphobia relies on willfully ignoring the trueness of affirmed selfhood. Both rely on denying the real personhood- the real Good-ness of another. That can look like questioning if a Black person suffocated under the knee of the state somehow “had it coming” or “should have listened.” That can look like valuing buildings and possessions over people. Or in Tony McDade’s case, it can look like malicious reporting and simply less coverage overall: erasure.
White Supremacy (which we know is intertwined with the social sins of Imperialism, Capitalism, Heteropatriarchy) reproduces itself by valuing buildings, property, and merchandise over Black lives. I defer to Sonya Renee Taylor, divine black Woman scholar-prophet, to help us understand: “As long as capital is more important than black bodies, black bodies will need to disrupt capital.”
But God, who knit us in Their womb, knows we are real. Knows each one and knows each one in their divine Blackness, Transness, Queerness, Made-Good-ness.
From my Christian perspective, I choose to- have to- believe in Good News. The Good News from the Gospel of Sylvester: “You make me feel mighty real” can be a prayer to the One who dwells within us, the Constant One- our God. And this Source, this Creator knows, through Jesus, what it is to be fully human- to be “real” in the way that we understand it in our corporeality. In fact, Jesus (a brown man) also knows what it is like to suffocate on the cross at the hands of the state.
Sylvester was an out, Black, Gay man who excelled in drag, raised Pentecostal, and remained a Christian throughout his life. His gender presentation was expansive and glam. Sylvester contracted AIDS in the late 1980s, and the 1988 Castro Street Fair in San Francisco was titled “A Tribute to Sylvester.” He is quoted as insisting: “I don’t believe that AIDS is the wrath of God.” At his funeral a few months later, he had full makeup, dress, and sermon, and choirs at his church, Love Center. He bequeathed his future music royalties to local AIDS support organizations.
Social sins of White Supremacy and Transphobia attempt to make us believe that others are less than, less real. Hold tight to those who “Make you feel mighty real,” tell them you thought of them when reading this blog, and know that to our mighty God, through the gift of grace, you are always already beloved- and mighty, mighty real.
PS: I invite you to learn more about Sylvester through:
Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer (she/her/hers) is a white anti-racist queer woman seminarian in the ELCA by way of Seattle University (yay Jesuits!) and Luther Seminary (yay Lutherans!). She lives on the unceded land of the Duwamish people of past and present (Seattle). In non-COVID times, she liked thrifting, potlucks, and dress-up dance parties. In COVID-times, she likes cultivating plants, Zoom Church, a home-made mask with her partner’s dog printed on it, and being a cabin counselor for “QueeranTeen Camp” for queer interfaith youth.
The grace of Jesus the Christ, the love of God the Creator, and the communion of the Queer-making Spirit be with you all.
I am The Reverend Nicole Garcia, pastor of Westview Church in Boulder, CO. I welcome you all to this worship service to commemorate Pride. The mission statement of Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries is, “Freed and compelled by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to proclaim God’s love and seek justice for all, Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries envisions a church where all can serve God according to their callings.”
These powerful words were lived out through the decades when individuals were “Extraordinarily Ordained.” ELM enabled so many of my friends and colleagues to answer their call to ministry. These powerful words are lived out today as we witness the church lifting up more people from the LGBTQ+ community into positions of leadership.
Today we give thanks for those who endured the pain of rejection, but refused to leave the church they loved. Today we give thanks for those who have taken leadership roles in the church. Today we give thanks for those who will continue to tear down the walls that separate us, so the message of love and inclusion of Jesus Christ can become a reality.
Today, our worship service will include Holy Communion. You are invited to set a place for a patten and chalice near the place where you will participate in the service. If you would like to receive Holy Communion, have bread and wine or grape juice ready. Any kind of bread or gluten-free option is fine. Any cup will serve as your chalice for wine or juice. You may also choose to only use bread and it will still be a full experience of the sacrament. If you don’t feel comfortable with this way of receiving communion, that is fine. When the Words of Institution are uttered, you are invited to raise the bread or cup, respectively, at the same time, I am raising the bread or cup. In this way, we are church together.
Let us begin…
Call to Worship by Rev. Brenda Bos- Spoken by Rev. Nicole Garcia
Creative One,
You were in a very good mood the day You created us.
Fabulous and faithful, free and fierce
Made in Your own image.
Beautiful, brave.
Vulnerable, vibrant.
We are the people You have called us to be,
Liberated, Longing, Loving.
Filled with the hope of the rainbow, Set free by Your gifts of grace.
We marvel at your love
We bow to your mercy.
We live because of your forgiveness.
Join us in these moments
And in our lives
We offer once again
All of ourselves given to You,
Who first gave all of Yourself for us.
Alleluia, Alleluia, all praise and honor are Yours,
Now and forever,
All: Amen.
Thanksgiving for Baptism, adapted by Rev. Brenda Bos- Spoken by Nicole Garcia
We give you thanks, O God,
for, in the beginning, you called forth life from the waters of chaos.
At Stonewall our siblings met chaos with courage, shouting “No” so we now can receive “Yes”.
Through the waters of the flood, you delivered Noah and their family.
The Berkeley Four faced their own rising waters of fear and rejection,
But they held firm in their faith that you would save them from the maelstrom.
At the river, Jacob wrestles with your messenger and receives a blessing,
and you give him a new name.
In 2009 you gave us a new name: “Ordained” in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Through the sea, you led your people Israel into a new identity as a free people.
The extraordinarily ordained, those who came out later in life, those who never thought they would
Live to see same-gender marriage; we are now a free people.
At the Jordan, your Beloved was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit.
By water and your Word, you name us all as your beloved children,
All genders, all sexualities, all people, now claim themselves as
heirs of your promise and servants of all.
We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life,
Poured out for all people,
washed clean of the shame and fear the world
Wishes to put upon us.
Raised up to new life in Jesus Christ,
God’s most glorious gift,
Embodied in each of us through the Holy Spirit,
All praise to you, Living God, now and forever.
All: Amen.
Gathering Hymn Canticle of Turning- performed by Deacon John Weit and Rev. Matt James
An excerpt from Joel Workin’s Essay “The Prodigal Church”- Luke 15: 11-32 read by Greg Egertson
Usually, when we hear St. Luke’s story of God’s grace in the parable of the “Prodigal Child,” we the listeners are cast in the title role. Not a bad part, actually, since as the stars of the show we get to satisfy all of our carnal desire and still have things work out back home in the end. A sort of have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too role. And that great swine scene: “I will arise and go to my father!”
The other alternative, of course, is to be cast in the villain’s role and play the big bad Elder Sibling who will not cut anyone a break. Not a bad part either. Anyway, as I say, this is how it usually works out. Usually.
In the story of the Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgendered/Queer people and the church, however, the customary roles are reversed. The Church, God’s understudy, which usually retains for itself the role of warm and waiting Parent, is now the one that has taken the “journey to the far country.”
In this drama, with the Church off living its carnal and sinful life, LGBTQ Christians are suddenly thrust into the role of Forgiving Parent and are left standing, if I may use this rural image, by the mailbox at the end of the driveway waiting for the Prodigal to come home. What does it mean for the church’s LGBTQ people to play the part of this often overlooked, mostly inactive character of Forgiving Parent? If prodigality and hospitality have both been taken away, what is left to do? The parable answers back quite simply: wait.
It is curious to note that in the parable the Prodigal wises up without anybody’s assistance or advice (save the swine’s perhaps). Will the church do the same?
We as the grieved party, have the power of forgiveness. But, whereas one may forgive, it takes two to be reconciled.
Childish as the Church may seem and act, it is not a child. LGBTQ Christians, therefore, await a Church that comes home as an adult. Not happily perhaps, not jumping and skipping, even some fear and concern, but of its own will and confessing with its lips and heart that “I have sinned against you and against God.” A church which is dragged home, seduced or tricked home does not end the wait. No, we do better by waiting, waiting expectantly, lovingly and hopefully by the mailbox for a repentant return, rather than playing juvenile games about recognition, policy, and the like.
It is not easy to hope and to believe in future reconciliation when a loved one says “No, period,” and blithely walks away. It is not easy to stand ready to forgive and to welcome home with open arms. Personally, I would rather be the star and squander the family fortune. That sounds like a lot more fun. The parable, however, says, “Hope, believe, wait.” There is more to be said. This show is not over yet.
Just you wait.
Genesis 9:12-17- Bishop Susan Johnson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
God said, “Here is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature for ageless generations: I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, my bow will appear in the clouds. Then I will remember the covenant that is between me and you and every kind of living creature, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. Whenever my bow appears in the clouds I will see it, and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all living things on the earth.”
Psalm 13- Margaret Moorland
1 How long, YHWH? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my anguish,
and wallow in despair all day long?
How long will my enemy win over me? 3 Look at me! Answer me, YHWH, my God!
Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed,”
lest my foes rejoice when I fall. 5 I trust in your love;
my heart rejoices
in the deliverance you bring. 6 I’ll sing to you, YHWH,
for being so good to me.
Gospel Matthew 10:40-42 “Those who welcome you also welcome me, and those who welcome me welcome the One who sent me. “Those who welcome prophets just because they are prophets will receive the reward reserved for the prophets themselves; those who welcome holy people just because they are holy will receive the reward of the holy ones. “The truth is, whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these lowly ones just for being a disciple will not lack a reward.”
Sermon – Rev. Jen Rude
Hymn of the Day – San Francisco’s Gay Men’s Chorus- “Truly Brave”
Queer Christian Creed, Created by Rev. Emily E. Ewing, Rev. Brenda Bos, and Katy Miles-Wallace- Spoken by Rev. Asher O’Callaghan.
I believe in God the Creator,
who designed all good things,
including people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.
I believe in Jesus Christ, Sophia, the Word,
who came to earth to live among us,
who was born into a non-conventional family
that adored Jesus even when they didn’t totally get it,
who confounded authorities and comforted the oppressed.
Jesus was so hated by the Empire that they took the earthly body of God,
crucified it, mocked it, killed it,
and threw it in a grave as one of so many marginalized people..
Jesus knew personal Hell.
On the third day, God celebrated the wonder of the human body
and the power of resurrection over death and oppression.
Women were the first to declare Christ risen.
Jesus ascended into the realm of beauty,
and They continue to move among us,
blessing and sustaining us.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, all music, wonder, and strength.
I am a member of the Body of Christ.
I cherish the communion of the saints,
live because of the forgiveness of sin,
emulate the resurrection of the Body
and already experience life everlasting. Amen
Prayers of the People, adapted by Margarette Ouji from enfleshed.com
In the midst of chaos and calm, and all that keeps our spirits wild, overwhelmed, or troubled, we pause.
We pause to remember each other as those whose precious and precarious lives are inherently bound together. We pause to remember the gifts of water, of trees, of beauty, of the land each of us inhabits.
We pause to remember our neighbors – distant and near.
And so to the One who is Love, we bring the prayers of our communities. Where we share in joy or concern, let us respond together, “Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.”
Let us pray…
We pray for our elders whose labor of love we show reverence to. We pray for St. Francis and First United, the first congregations that called our LGBQTIA+ siblings as their pastors thirty years ago. For the congregations that followed courageously and faithfully in their footsteps.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
For the ones who never tasted the freedom they fought for. For the ones who were forced to the fringes of their own movements. For the allies who suffered beside us, casting their lot with us in true solidarity. For the ones forgotten and betrayed.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
For the ones who are struggling with feelings of isolation and shame. For those who have no safe place or people to retreat to. For those who are unsafe in their homes and communities during this pandemic we find ourselves in.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
For the black and brown bodies who have been murdered by the state. For our black, brown and indigenous trans siblings. For the ones who speak truth to power. For the protestors who will not cease until justice is served. For the ones who took risks, who dreamed.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
For all those who hunger for justice and liberation today. For all who are suffering in the world and in our church at the hands of white supremacy. For those imprisoned by the state. For those whose land has been taken. For the land we occupy that does not belong to us. For the earth that groans beneath us. For those without food or shelter. For those who have yet to repent.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
We pray in gratitude for all that nourishes and sustains us. For the gifts of beauty and friendship, shared meals, and art, and love. For laughter. For pleasure. For the friends, lovers, and comrades who lift our spirits, always by our side when the days are heavy. For the freedom we have in Christ.
Beloved, as the world turns, hear our prayers.
For your presence within and around us, in our highs and lows, and everywhere in between. In our hope and our despair, Creator, we give you thanks. Hear our prayers and deepen our willingness to show up with and for one another, sharing in each other’s burdens and working for one another’s protection and care. Amen.
Offering Music “Gracious Spirit, Heed our Pleading” provided by Tasha Gerken-Nelson & Rev. Amanda Gerken-Nelson
HOLY COMMUNION
God is with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to God.
Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right our duty and our joy
That we should at all times and in all places
Give thanks and praise to you
Lifegiving God.
We thank you, divine Seamstress
For you never stop creating.
From the dawn of time, in our mother’s womb, and even in the age to come,
Your creativity is as endless as eternity.
Even today you are knitting us your people
Into a garment of many colors.
We thank you, Holy Spirit,
For you do not allow us to grow complacent.
You stir up dreams and visions within us
Making us restless for a new Heaven and a new Earth.
You clothe us with power to bring these dreams to life.
In you, we are beginning to see all things anew.
We thank you, Christ our Savior
For your wondrous transformation
Word made into flesh.
You challenge us with foreign experiences
Teaching us that those we thought were strange and cut off
Are members in your holy body.
Therefore, with Joseph and all of Israel’s children,
With the confused disciples and the Ethiopian eunuch,
With all who have shown us your way,
All who have gone before us,
And all those we gather with this day,
We praise your name:
Holy, holy, holy God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God. Hosanna in the highest.
Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of bread
and in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
We remember how, on the night before he was
crucified, Jesus took bread, gave thanks broke it and said,
this is the bread of life.
Every time you eat it together, remember me.
Again, after supper, Jesus took the cup,
gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:
this cup is God’s love poured out for you
and for all people for the forgiveness of sin,
whenever you drink it, remember me.
We remember that night Jesus spent with his friends,
and we feel their presence with us now,
brought into our midst by faith and love,
opening our eyes to a new reality.
We ask God, through the Holy Spirit
to bless these gifts we offer and share,
making them Christ’s body and blood,
and we Christ’s holy people.
Together with all the church, we give you thanks:
Creator, Redeemer, Spirit of love.
Bind us together. Open our hearts.
Grant us peace. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Using the language of your own heart, let us pray together the prayer Jesus taught us: (you may use the following or other similar words in any language)
Our Parent who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy reign come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the reign, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Come and your souls will be fed. Come at the Holy One’s invitation and eat
the bread of salvation; drink of Jesus’s love poured out for you.
Before we share communion, let us pray together:
God, in this time of physical separation from our church
family, we give you thanks as we partake in your gift of grace,
Holy Communion. As we receive this meal, remind us of your
forgiveness and promise of eternal life. This we pray in Jesus’
holy name. Amen.
COMMUNION
This is the body of Christ given for you.
Amen
This is the blood of Christ shed for you.
Amen
Post-Eucharistic Prayer:
Queer-making Spirit, you made darkness and light and twilight called them good; sea and dry land and everything in between; genders trans, cis and all that is beyond and outside. Yet this world, this life, and this feast are but a foretaste of your celestial realm. Nourish our hearts and bodies so that the loves we have fought for, fuel us to keep fighting until the kin-dom of God is come. We ask this in the name of the one, holy, and undivided Trinity.
Sending Song – “Beloved” – The Eschatones (Caitlin, Emily, Anne, Carolina & Christina)
BLESSING
Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
I grew up in rural Montana. The discovery of my own sexuality amidst the highly conservative political and religious environment of the mid-90s left me exiled from the world that I had spent my whole life inhabiting. If there were other queer people around, they were deeply closeted.
Eventually, I came out in one of Montana’s small cities and lived openly. Our community of LGBTQ+ people, before the digital and internet age, was tightly knit and fiercely protective of one another. We were living openly, in resistance to almost everything that surrounded us.
The loneliness I felt was transformed by a sense of home that the queer community offered me, when I could claim it. Community became a holiness, a grace made visible for my long years of loneliness. How true has this been for so many of us? I found that I, too, was worthy of love. Because I was loved by all of you.
That’s not to say my community then and our LGBTQIA+ communities now are perfect. It took me years to comprehend the racism, misogyny, classism, and ageism deeply imbedded in the queer culture of the 1990s and now. I noticed how queer men and women didn’t mix — how clubs and bars enforced this gendered separation through the practice of “men only” entrances and charging higher covers for women at dance clubs. I noticed that white gay men didn’t cross some invisible line in a gay bar in Eastern Montana and meet or make friends with Indigenous queer and two-spirited people. It took years to understand how my own privilege allowed me to benefit from and made me complicit in these wrongs. I am still learning.
And, the Holy One is at work among us. Transformation requires the willingness to be broken open. Queer people of God are gifted with the ability to transform ourselves and our lives in special ways. We were broken out of the tomb of our closets, out of the bondage of our old ways of living that kept us separated from others.
George’ Michael’s, “Freedom” remains an imperfect song, but it continues to remind me that I am liberated, set free in Love.
Jory Mickelson (he/they) is a mission developer in the Northwest Washington Synod. They are currently looking for ways to build connections and imbed service to the LGBTQ+ community in the life of the church where they live. A writer and educator, their first book Wilderness//Kingdom was published in 2019.
Rev. Ben Hogue was blessed to bring the words of his saint-mentor Joel Workin into the halls of Congress, opening the House of Representatives in prayer on the day of his installation at Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Ben lives next to Reformation with his fiancé Marshall, and their Beltway boys, Bogart (cat) and Bosco (dog). He is very excited that candy corn is back on store shelves.
Lewis Eggleston (he/him/his) is the Associate Director of Development and Communications for ELM. He currently lives in Germany with his dog-child and husband awaiting the day he can travel back to visit parents, siblings, and all the nieces and nephews. He is spending his time getting to know his little village and walking the trails around the town castle. Waiting for the day he can be in another musical. 
Margarette (she/her/hers) has spent these months during quarantine learning new crochet patterns and moonlighting as a Logistics Specialist for a plant-based meal delivery company. This summer she served as a camp counselor with Queeranteen Camp and participated in a 6-week workshop for queer/trans Iranian-Americans. She will begin her final year of seminary as the Vicar at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oakland, CA. Margarette is a board member of ELM and was part of the planning team for the 30th anniversary of ELM. She lives in Richmond, CA, with her wife, Abby, and their dog Luther. They’re excited to share that they are expecting their first (human) child at the end of this year! 
The Rev. Carla Christopher Wilson (she/her) is a redevelopment pastor serving a congregation in Lancaster, PA. Also the co-chair of Lower Susquehanna Synod’s Racial Justice Task Force, Carla is a queer femme Black (and a little Latinx) warrior for self-care and mental health. A former Poet Laureate of York, PA and a published writer, Carla continues to side hustle as a poet until her latest book, Black Catechism, is released later this summer..jpg)
Kayla Sadowy (she/her) is a bi-vocational seminarian based in Philadelphia. Her work as a music therapist has proven the power of music to be a force for transformation and new life, especially to oppressed people. Kayla’s public witness seeks equity over equality, justice over fairness, and aesthetics over beauty. She loves cooking anything from scratch, hiking with her partner, and experimenting in ever-elusive urban gardening.
Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer (she/her/hers) is a white anti-racist queer woman seminarian in the ELCA by way of Seattle University (yay Jesuits!) and Luther Seminary (yay Lutherans!). She lives on the unceded land of the Duwamish people of past and present (Seattle). In non-COVID times, she liked thrifting, potlucks, and dress-up dance parties. In COVID-times, she likes cultivating plants, Zoom Church, a home-made mask with her partner’s dog printed on it, and being a cabin counselor for “
Jory Mickelson (he/they) is a mission developer in the Northwest Washington Synod. They are currently looking for ways to build connections and imbed service to the LGBTQ+ community in the life of the church where they live. A writer and educator, their first book