Lgbtq folx8/12/2023 John’s pastor, Rudy Rasmus, told the Houston Chronicle, “Discrimination and injustice in any form-whether it’s sexual identity or race-it all leaves the same scar.”Īs Rasmus stated, these forms of discrimination add to the already existent trauma and social determinants that intersect with being a millennial, queer, and Christian. The love that I felt in the moment healed countless wounds. Vallery says : “I was moved by the outpouring of love and support for inclusiveness in my church. John’s seems to be doing something that few in the denomination have done: standing up for what’s right. However, the church still sits on a precipice due to the very rigid decision from its larger denomination. John’s is a spotlight of hope for many communities. From the church’s homeless initiative to its 23-year-old HIV testing and counseling program, St. John’s United Methodist Church in downtown Houston, traveled to his weekly church service this weekend, a space that has been affirming of LGBTQ+ people and social activism long before those terms were popular. Even churches here in Houston feel that this issue could be one that detrimentally causes dissent amongst the ranks. In an article by the National Institute of Health, the organization makes the strong argument that the denial of same-sex affirming practices contributes to minority stress and can be a public health issue. A divisive topic, this has major implications on the sect of believers who identify as LGBTQ+ Christians. Still, more recently, another denomination-the United Methodist Church-has decided to keep their ban against same – sex clergy and marriages in place. Worse though, is that some of these sexual misconduct convictions were in relation to male clergy assaulting a member or members of the same sex-yet, these crimes seem to be forgiven by the same congregation that actively condemn s homosexuality. What’s more, according to the article, T exas has had more of these convictions than any other state. In many of these churches, women can’t be appointed as ministers and homosexua l and transgender folx are condemned as “abominations” in the eyes of God. This, of course, is the same institution that places blame and ownership over many of the bodies within their own congregation. Many of them return to the pulpit-even after conviction. On February 10, 2019, the Houston Chronicle reported that there were 700 victims of sexual assault in the last two decades within the Southern Baptist church, along with 220 clergy folk convicted of at least one crime. With the recent headlines surrounding the Southern Baptist Church ’s and the United Methodist Church ’s decisions on LGBTQ+ acceptance, things haven’t gotten any easier. B alancing the two can feel like hiding both of your identities under a rock. It has never been an easy feat to identify as both a Christian and LGBTQ+, but in the modern day, some would say that they are completely opposing viewpoints. Over the past several months, LGBTQ+ folx have been overrun with spotlight as Christian denominations’ dysfunction has been prominently displayed.
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