Myths of Following Jesus and the LGBTQIA+ Community (or how a bunch of queer Christians keep me in church!)

This is Father Jared Cramer from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, here with today’s edition of Christian Mythbusters, a regular segment I offer to counter some common misconceptions about the Christian faith. Well, it’s the last Wednesday in Pride Month, so I have one more edition of Christian Mythbusters during which I’d like to break the myths surrounding the far-too-often hostile relationship between those who claim to follow Jesus and the LGBTQIA+ community. The Grand Haven Pride festival earlier this month was a fantastic event. It was the third festival and I’m grateful that the festival organizers let my own church, St. John’s Episcopal in Grand Haven, begin that day by hosting a Pride-themed community worship service. We were joined in financial support by our siblings at the United Methodist Church of the Dunes in Grand Haven and even had the blessing of having the Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Grand Haven, the Rev. Kristine Aragon-Bruce, as the preacher for the day. The love and joy of the day will feed be for quite a while. But I will also be haunted by some of the ugliness in what led up to the day. As with any other festival or event, we posted details and invitation on social media, including our own local city’s Facebook Group: Grand Haven Informed. And while many people expressed enthusiasm, even sharing how proud they were to see an event like this in Grand Haven, others responded with… different emotions. People didn’t just disagree with the festival or the values surrounding Pride month. They attacked it, they attacked the organizers, they even attacked me personally for my role in it, saying some pretty hateful things about all of us. We saved screenshots of the most vicious comments, so we would have information to give to the police if any violence occurred, but thankfully the day went off largely without a hitch. A few people showed up with signs to protest, but everyone pretty much ignored them until they gave up and went away. It will never cease to amaze me how people can claim to follow Jesus, the Lord who taught us that all the law and prophets hang on love of God and love of neighbor, and then call other people who disagree with them vile, scum, and an abomination. Truth be told, if I hadn’t found The Episcopal Church and escaped the death-dealing heterosexist and transphobic interpretation of Scripture I was raised with, I doubt I’d even be a Christian anymore. But I’ll tell you why I am still a Christian—a big part of it is the numerous faithful gay, trans, and queer Christians I know. All of these people who are surrounded by so much hate and yet respond over and over again by living their life according to the teachings of Jesus and the way of love. I think of Dan and Paul, who were the first couple to welcome my wife and I to the Cathedral community in Nashville when we lived in Tennessee. I think of Paul patting me on the hand, telling me he didn’t need me to welcome him into church—he’d been here forty years, he was the one welcoming me. I think of Greg, who is the single greatest evangelist for Jesus Christ my parish has ever known, who even though he is a single gay man in his sixties has adopted numerous people into his life, being a mentor to so many. And I think of Sadie, dear Sadie, the trans woman at my parish who has suffered so much abuse every time she tries just to get a job and earn a living, but who shows up on Sunday full of smiles and hugs for everyone. If these people (and many more) can continue to show up and be in the church, and follow Jesus, who am I to get discouraged? Because together, arm in arm, joined in advocacy and fellowship, we will continue to fight until the entire church is a safe place for all of God’s children. Thanks for being with me. To find out more about my parish, you can go to sjegh.com. Until next time, remember, protest like Jesus, love recklessly, and live your faith out in a community that accepts you but also challenges you to be better tomorrow than you are today.