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Pride Month Weekly Devotional:
Week of June 1, 2021 Introduction Welcome to Lutheran Church of Christ the King’s weekly devotional during June 2021! I’m Pastor Megan Filer, my pronouns are she/her/hers, and this topic is particularly important to me as I myself am part of the LGBTQ+ community. June is Pride month for the LGBTQ+ community. As a Reconciling in Christ congregation, we seek to let all people know they are welcome regardless of race, age, culture, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. As part of our ongoing commitment to welcome and affirm all people, LCCK is invited during this month to learn more about our siblings in the LGBTQ+ community and how we can continue to set the banquet of grace for all people. Each week we’ll have an online video along with a written devotional as we look to celebrate the divine diversity God creates in all people. Each week will follow a similar format, and each week will begin with this introduction, a piece of Pride history, scripture, and a story to tie everything together. History What is Pride month and why is it celebrated? There are resources far more in depth than I can provide in this short devotional which I will link and cite below. I highly recommend learning more about the beginnings of Pride, but here are the basics: On June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a known LGBTQ+ club in New York City, was violently raided by police, arresting bar patrons for being themselves. Many the of the patrons at the Stonewall were queer trans people of color. After countless raids, violence, and arrests over the course of years, on June 28th, 1969, a riot began outside the Stonewall Inn over six days calling for spaces for LGBTQ+ folx to be able to simply exist without fear of discrimination, violence, or arrest. During the riots, the Stonewall was burned to the ground, and a year later bisexual activist Brenda Howard organized the first Gay Pride Week and the Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade as a way to organize the LGBTQ+ community to seek equality, celebrate diversity, and stand up for the right to simply exist. Scripture Psalm 139:1-14 1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. Story It might seem like fifty years is a long time ago in history for LGBTQ+ folx, and we might feel that things are so much better now – why the need for a month of parades and pride? The truth is – because for myself and for many LGBTQ+ people, we still continue to face discrimination, fear, and being forced out of spaces that are meant to feel safe for us. And the church is one of those places where that can unfortunately happen the most. I have always appreciated Psalm 139 because as a queer kid with anxiety and depression, knowing that God continues to reach out for me no matter where I am has always brought me comfort. As I’ve gotten older, this psalm has come with new meanings to me as well. The idea that God knows me completely, for all my failings and all my successes, and still offers light into the shadows of my life has brought me hope. And when I began to come out of the closet again as an adult, beginning to name out loud to members of my church two years ago that I was the “B” in LGBT I was reminded again of this psalm. I first came out to my Mutual Ministry committee, a team of three members of the church, appointed by the council, who help to mediate conflict situations as well as support the pastor. The three members, ranging from 60 to 85 in age, sat across from me as I nervously explained who I am, because fifty years later the fear of rejection, hate, and exile from safe spaces is still real. I knew how I hoped they would respond, but I had no idea what their reactions would be to my identity as a bisexual person, and my plan to be honest and name this part of myself out loud to the church. After a moment of silence, the oldest person on the committee turned to the group, turned back to me, and said, “Pastor – you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God does not make mistakes. We love you.” I cried. I still tear up when I think about it, because the power of God’s love shared through us can hit us right in our hearts. All people are fearfully and wonderfully made, and in the diverse rainbow of humanity that God created, we are reminded that God has fearfully and wonderfully made people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and asexual, who are transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and two spirit, who are queer and questioning, who are part of that beautiful plus in LGBTQ+, and as people of God we are called to share that same wonderful love each of us receive with those who continue to seek and stand up for spaces to simply exist. Together, during this Pride month, my hope is that as a Reconciling in Christ church, as followers of Jesus, we too can stand up for our siblings right to be who they are, and with love and grace declare God’s word – you are, we are, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Prayer Lord of all creation – your diverse rainbow of humanity brightens our lives with the gifts of all those you have fearfully and wonderfully made. Pour your Spirit over us as we begin this month of June, as we seek to share welcome and grace with all people, guide us as we provide space for all to be who you made them to be. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. Continued Reading: Today’s sources: “Pride Month – June 2021” https://nationaltoday.com/pride-month/ Vincenz, Lilli. Gay and Proud. 1970. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs01991430/ History of Pride: “The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets” by Gayle E. Pitman 2019. Christian LGBTQ Author’s Story: “One Coin Found” by Rev. Emmy Kegler 2019. Reconciling in Christ & Reconciling Works reconcilingworks.org
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