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This Sunday at UMB is our second annual Pride Sunday celebration. While our mission at UMB is to help all people to know the fully inclusive love of God, we set aside one Sunday a year to celebrate LGBTQ people—to prioritize LGBTQ issues, to focus on how we can make sure our community is as welcoming and safe as possible for LGBTQ folks, and to bring the voices of LGBTQ people to the forefront.
In preparing for my lesson, I decided to explore what was available on Unity.org’s LGBTQ Spiritual Resource Center. Did you know such a website existed? This wonderful source of information and resources can be found at https://www.unity.org/article/lgbtq-spiritual-resource-center, or you can simply go to unity.org and search for LGBTQ resources. There are articles, booklets, videos, and podcasts available, along with information about Unity’s stance on LGBTQ matters and inclusivity, and a link to Unity’s official Statement of Diversity and Inclusion.
Probably one of the best resources I found is a little booklet produced by Unity, which you can order a copy of for free or download digitally, called Worthy: LGBTQ Stories of Overcoming Rejection and Religion to Find Truth. This booklet is full of powerful stories written by LGBTQ Unity ministers and other spiritual leaders, giving voice to the LGBTQ experience as it pertains to church and spirituality. The stories are both heartbreaking and hopeful, full of pain but also ringing with redemption. I highly encourage you to check it out. I was deeply moved by their stories and I know you will be too.
In this Sunday’s lesson, we will look at some of Unity’s history with the LGBTQ community, as well as celebrate the progress that has been made. Most importantly, we will rededicate ourselves to being “unapologetically inclusive”—expanding our circle of love and inclusion ever bigger and wider so that it encompasses every one of the unique, unrepeatable expressions of God that each of us are.
Many Blessings,
Rev. Michelle
