Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources

We seek to be a church that loves as Jesus loves, loves our neighbors as ourselves, welcomes and celebrates all, and respects the dignity of every human being.

We believe that there is profound strength in diversity, and we stand firmly against hatred, bigotry, racism, and discrimination of any kind. We are intentionally committed to striving for justice and peace among all people.

We invite you to worship with us because you are a child of God. Whatever your ethnicity, skin color, abilities, circumstances, gender identity, sexual orientation, or wherever you are on your spiritual journey, we will help each other to build our relationship with God, with one another, and with the earth.

We pray that we will be an example of unconditional loving-kindness as we work toward racial reconciliation and fostering a Beloved Community full of compassionate, loving, liberating, and life-giving relationships.

We ask you to hold us accountable. When we fall short, work with us to be better and to walk in the way of love as Christ loved us.

In the first century, Jesus of Nazareth inspired a movement. A community of people whose lives were centered on Jesus Christ and committed to living the way of God’s unconditional, unselfish, sacrificial, and redemptive love. We believe that God loves us all – no exceptions. episcopalchurch.org

LGBTQ+ Resources

Episcopal Church

To Set Our Hope on Christ –– In 2005 the Anglican Communion requested from the Episcopal Church “a contribution which explains, from within the sources of authority that we as Anglicans have received in scripture, the apostolic tradition and reasoned reflection, how a person living in a same gender union may be considered eligible to lead the flock of Christ.” This is that response.

LGBTQ in the Church — “To our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender brothers, sisters and siblings: “The Episcopal Church welcomes you!” — link to our denominational LGBTQ page on The Episcopal Church website.

Claiming the Blessing — Convened in 2002 to help move the Episcopal Church forward on the full inclusion of all the baptized in all the sacraments the Claiming the Blessing website is a great resource for the history of the movement for LGBTQ+ equality in the Episcopal Church.

History of LGBTQ+ Affirming Legislation in the Episcopal Church — Decisions for the Episcopal Church are made for the whole church by our General Convention, which meets every three years. This history of how the church has moved forward legislatively covers 1976- 2018.

Transgender/Non-Binary

Pronouns 101 — An essay and podcast by Hannah Earnshaw unpacking the power of pronouns to correctly acknowledge each other as the beautiful, complicated children of God we have been created to be.

Voices of Witness: Out of the Box — The 2012 groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith courageously telling their stories of hope, healing and wholeness. [produced here at All Saints Church for Integrity USA by parishioner Louise Emerson Brooks.]

TransEpiscopal – TransEpiscopal is a group of transgender and allied Episcopalians dedicated to fostering the full embrace of trans and non-binary people, and our loved ones within the Episcopal Church and to inspiring faith-based advocacy for trans justice in the wider world.

LGBTQ Q&A: “So I get LGBT but I don’t understand the Q. I’ve heard it stands for “questioning” and I’ve also heard it stands for “queer.” So which one is it?”

Blessed Are the Binary Breakers: An excellent resource for transgender Christian theology and history. Avery Smith — non-binary seminary graduate and the mastermind behind both the QueerlyChristian support blog and BlessedAreTheBinaryBreakers — joined us to speak about their work and to discuss a God who is beyond all binaries at the virtual LGBTQ+ Social for All Saints Church Pasadena in May 2020. You can watch that presentation on our YouTube Channel here.

Scripture

“But the Bible says …”: Liberating ourselves from the Bible as a weapon of exclusion — A video version of a presentation by the Reverend Susan Russell exploring the various “clobber passages” misused to oppress and marginalize LGBTQ+ people.

What the Bible Says and Doesn’t Say About Homosexuality — A PDF version of a presentation by the Reverend Dr. Mel White digging deep into the texts and contexts of the biblical texts frequently cited to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Turns out there’s more to them than meets the eye.

Wider Community Resources

The Trevor Project — Dedicated to saving young LGBTQ lives, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

*Credit to All Saints Episcopal Church Pasadena for this compilation of resources. Suggestions for additional resources are welcome and should be sent to hpeete@spcathedral.com.