It happens every June like clockwork, but this year feels different. Over the last few weeks of this LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, I have witnessed an incredible increase in "Christian hate speech" - a phrase that by all rights should be an absolute oxymoron. The vitriol aimed at queer people seems louder, sharper, and more relentless than before. Maybe it has always been this bad and I am just seeing it clearly now. As an intern at the Cathedral of Hope - the world’s largest LGBTQIA

Every June, downtown Dallas transforms. If you walk past Main Street Garden Park or down the central streets during Dallas Pride, you are swept up in a sea of joy. As the local headlines aptly put it, the festival literally "paints downtown in color." It is a beautiful testament to resilience, visibility, and community. But as anyone who has attended Dallas Pride knows, the rainbow-colored celebration isn’t the only thing waiting for you. Just outside the festival gates, the

It has been a lot. If I’m being completely honest, even typing that sentence feels like a massive understatement. Lately, my life has felt like a beautiful, spinning kaleidoscope of high-stakes callings, transitions, and demands. I am currently navigating the relentless currents of full-time employment, nurturing committed relationships, adjusting to the culture shock and logistics of moving to a brand-new state, wading through the intense self-reflection of Clinical Pastoral

Every June, our sanctuaries and city streets bloom with rainbows. We gather in the warmth of early summer to celebrate how far we have come, often pointing to the historic milestone of marriage equality as the crown jewel of modern LGBTQIA+ liberation. For communities of faith, this progress has been framed - rightly so in many ways - as an expansion of grace, justice, and pastoral care. It brought vital, indispensable legal protections to individuals and families who despera

There’s something deeply transformative about walking into a space where you feel seen, valued, and loved just as you are. For many, especially those who have felt marginalized or alienated by traditional religious settings, finding such a place can feel like discovering a hidden sanctuary. Over the years, I’ve come to understand that creating this kind of environment—a radical welcome—is not just about opening doors. It’s about opening hearts and minds in ways that challenge

A Litany of Enduring Light Written for Cathedral of Hope, Dallas - Pride Sunday, June 7, 2026 Leader: We gather at the threshold of this Pride Month, standing on an enduring foundation of Hope. We come to celebrate a Divine Love that is as constant as the morning and as vibrant as the light of day. People: We are a people of the promise - colorful, courageous, and constant. Leader: We recognize that our journey is marked by seasons of both shadow and sun. Yet, we celebrate th

In recent years, a beautiful and necessary shift has taken place in many of our churches. Pastors are increasingly preaching on the "theology of lament," urging us to stop practicing "spiritual bypass" - that tendency to skip over pain with a quick Bible verse - and instead to sit in the ashes like Job. We are finally acknowledging that the book of Lamentations is in the Bible for a reason, and that roughly one-third of the Psalms are cries of distress rather than songs of vi

The transition from the world of academia - where my worth was measured by the complexity of my theological arguments and the depth of my intellectualizing - to the clinical world of Sankofa CPE has been a process of profound "emptying out." In the classroom, I was taught to fill the space with knowledge. In the hospital room and at the community breakfast table, I am learning that the most transformative thing I can offer is a space that is intentionally, vulnerably empty of

When I first encountered queer theology, it felt like a breath of fresh air in a room that had long been stuffy with exclusion and misunderstanding. It invited me to rethink faith, identity, and community in ways that felt deeply affirming and radically inclusive. For those of us involved in leadership within the United Church of Christ (UCC), embracing queer theology is not just an academic exercise—it’s a transformative journey that can reshape how we nurture spiritual comm

As I approach the end of my path toward ordained ministry, I find myself standing in a sacred space of reflection. Currently, I am serving as a pastoral care intern at the Cathedral of Hope UCC in Dallas - a place that is not only the world’s largest LGBTQIA+ - centric church but also a vibrant beacon of what it means for queer people to repair the often toxic and abusive relationship that many of them had with the churches of their past and reclaim the love of God as their b

The United Church of Christ's (UCC) Committees on Ministry (COMs) currently lack specific guidance on addressing individuals in ethically non-monogamous (ENM) relationships in authorization and adjudication. Grounded in the UCC's core principles of covenant, extravagant welcome, and justice, these guidelines assert that the ethical practice of relationships, rather than their structure, is paramount. By applying existing frameworks like the Manual on Ministry , the Marks of F

I recently received a message from a woman on Facebook who is navigating a journey she never anticipated—discovering her queerness after years of marriage and family life. She shared her story with me, describing the profound support she has received from her husband, who embraced her truth as she began exploring relationships with women. Now, years later, she is both still married to the same wonderful man and in a relationship with a girlfriend, yet she struggles with guilt

Date: March 8, 2026 (Fourth Sunday in Lent) Location: First Church Phoenix UCC Scripture: Matthew 19:13 - 15; Proverbs 31:8 Sermon starts at 42:45 I. The Coffee Shop Covenant: An Instinctive Love As we gather on this Fourth Sunday in Lent, we find ourselves at a crossroads of the heart. Our Lenten journey can often feel like an internal, somber trek toward the crucifixion. But this Fourth Sunday is traditionally called Laetare Sunday - coming from the Latin word for "rejoi

Stepping into my first verbatim presentation for Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) felt a bit like walking onto a stage without a script. For those unfamiliar, a verbatim is a detailed, written account of a pastoral encounter - word for word, pause for pause - presented to a supervisor and a small cohort of peers for intense reflection. It is an exercise in vulnerability, and I am deeply grateful that my professor and my cohort met that vulnerability with incredible support a

For clergy or lay members engaged in the demanding and holy work of pastoral care, sustainability is key. The following safeguards are...

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One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in ministry is that caring for myself is not a luxury - it’s a calling. If I want to...

by Christopher Schouten, MID Preached June 29th, 2025, Pride Sunday First Church Phoenix UCC, Phoenix, AZ Beloved community, Happy Pride...

We are part of a tradition that proudly proclaims, "God is still speaking." In these times of deep societal division, I believe one of...

We live in fractured times. The political and cultural divides in America feel wider and deeper than many of us can remember. These...