Sunday, October 06, 2013

Pastor Lawrence Richardson-My Transgendered Faith

Lawrence Richardson preaching at First United Church of Christ in Northfield, MN in 2013I met Pastor Lawrence T. Richardson earlier this year at the BTMI conference in Dallas and had some long, thoughtful discussions with him during that event. 

I also had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota based minister's panel discussion during BTMI..

He now has an interesting post up at The Salt Collective group blog entitled 'My Transgendered Faith' in which he says this:

My message to every trans and gender non-conforming person is this: "God is love and you were made in the image of perfect Love.  There is space for you in this world.  There is space at your church, in your desired career, in your family, on sports teams...and it is time to take your space.  Show up!  In large number or in small...your presence is valued and necessary.  So what, they stare or ask questions, answer them.   Look them in the eyes proudly with your beautiful, handsome, artsy, brilliant, capable, transgendered self.  Claim your space. Rearrange the seating to make room at the table.  Correct people when they use the wrong pronouns.  Hang up your own sign on the bathroom door.  Tell them who you are and who you are not. Be bold.  No one is going to understand what they cannot see, cannot hear or cannot know.   

You can read the rest of Pastor Richardson's message here
   
My message to every trans and gender non-conforming person reading this is: “God is love and you were made in the image of perfect Love. There is space for you in this world. There is space at your church, in your desired career, in your family, on sports teams…and it is time to take your space. Show up! In large numbers or in small…your presence is valued and necessary. So what they stare or ask questions, answer them. Look them in the eyes proudly with your beautiful, handsome, artsy, brilliant, capable, transgendered self. Claim your space. Rearrange the seating to make room at the table. Correct people when they use the wrong pronouns. Hang up your own sign on the bathroom door. Tell them who you are and who you are not. Be bold. No one is going to understand something that they cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot know. - See more at: http://thesaltcollective.org/transgendered-faith/#sthash.L1bQWSnz.dpuf

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