The Value of Spiritual Surrender

A white flower in a vase.

Holiday seasons, including Holy Week and Easter, are generally tough for everyone. For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, holiday seasons can be even tougher, but on the other side of our deepest heartache lies our deepest breakthrough. This is because what we cannot hold alone forces us to either go mad, or go…

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When Coming Out Costs You Everything

Two women hugging in front of a brick wall.

Ten years ago if someone asked me to predict my future, I would have said that I expected to married with kids, and involved in some sort of Christian ministry. Ironically, that isn’t far from the truth, except that the specific confines of that prediction had a drastically different outcome than I (or any of…

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Rooted in Faith, Grounded in Love: The MCC Conference for People of African Descent (PAD), Friends & Advocates

Choir performing at church conference stage

The Conference for People of African Descent, Friends, and Advocates is one of the landmark conferences of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC). Expressly rooted in the African-American cultural experience, the conference provides a space for people of African descent, friends and advocates to come together for a time of celebration, skill-building, strategizing, leadership development, and…

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Setting Black Mothers Free

Group of women raising fists in solidarity

As a teenager, I went to youth Bible study on Wednesdays, choir rehearsal on Fridays, and volunteered with the Children’s Ministry on Saturdays. My week, and my network of friends, revolved around social activities in church. We traveled from place to place because safe and loving adults cared to drive us from place to place.…

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An Open Pastoral Letter To The Trans Community

Brothers, Sisters and Siblings, I see the posts. I see the words of hate people scrawl through the comments section, through the tweets and Facebooks status updates. I see the pictures of trans celebrities that get attacked and misgendered. I see the people standing outside of buildings with picket signs. I see the petitions and…

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Coming Out As Trans In An Affirming Faith Community

Two women posing for a photo at a trans as pick event.

Click here to find a welcoming church! Affirming pastors can have an immeasurably positive impact in the lives of their LGBTQIA congregants. Hannah Soldner, a Believe Out Loud blogger, is lucky to have three affirming pastors who accompany her on her faith journey. Rev. Mieke Vandersall, the second openly gay minister to be ordained in…

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Catholic Ministry Supports Gay Priest Removed From Ministry

Two women are sitting in a room and one is looking at her phone.

Statement of Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry MOUNT RAINIER, Maryland—By all accounts, Fr. Warren Hall has been a caring, compassionate, and faithful Catholic priest. But there’s one more important adjective to describe him: courageous. He has courageously stood by the LGBT community, taking personal risks to let them know that God loves them…

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