Serve, Work and Transform: More Light Presbyterians

Saturday, June 29, 2024

More Light Presbyterians - Pride is not over?

Pride is not over!

Blessings from all of us at MLP as we round into the last few days of Pride Month! In the past few weeks, we have been blessed to see so many beautiful examples of people claiming their God-given status as beloved children of God. Our annual MLP Pride worship celebration was a powerful testimony of grace and courage. The musical pieces by Matt Webb and Flamy Grant were sermons in themselves. The prayers written by the MLP board and staff moved us from mourning to reflection to celebration. And the sermonettes by our very own Jesy Littlejohn, Brooke Scott, and Avery Arden set our hearts ablaze. We saw celebrations everywhere in the country and people resisting to fall into the trap of fear. We saw MLP churches marching in Pride parades and telling the story of God’s inclusive love in worship using liturgy we created in partnership with A Sanctified Art.

This month, we have also witnessed why Pride celebrations continue to be crucial as acts of resistence and community building. In Colorado, politicians emailed constituents calling people in the LGBTQIA+ community all kinds of derogatory names while asking constituents to burn and destroy Pride flags… and people delivered. In our own denomination, debate about the inclusion and non-discrimination of LGBTQIA+ people in church leadership has surfaced again in advance of this year’s General Assembly, showing us the need to never fall asleep and to keep working and praying without ceasing. You can click here to read a statement about this by former PC(USA) moderators, including two MLP board alumni.

We are grateful to the individuals, congregations, and organizations that participate in our work and witness to “center and celebrate the lives, gifts, and leadership of LGBTQIA+ people.” We believe this ministry is more necessary than ever, and we hope that as we round out Pride Month, you will join us. To help us celebrate queer and trans lives all year long, will you consider a financial gift to support and grow our work? Your contributions help us create imaginative, queer-affirming worship materials, provide a hospitable presence at General Assembly, offer pastoral care to LGBTQIA+ people, and much more. Thank you for all the ways you create more light and love for all people.

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Don't forget...

During General Assembly, we will host a cocktail reception on June 29th at 8 pm at the Diamond Lounge of the Hilton SLC Center to kick off our 25th/50th anniversary celebrations.
If you were holding up a sign at General Assembly or your Presbytery meeting, what would you say? Where is justice still needed? What work is still to be done? Send an email to hello@mlp.org with an image of you (or anyone in your community!) holding a sign that would start a movement in our denomination and honor David Sindt’s courage!