
Well, beloved, it is Pride Month, and in Maryland the parades are behind us. Maryland Presbyterian Church partnered with some of our Lutheran friends at St. Mark’s, Dreams and Visions, and Divinity to put on a Quiet Pride event for introverts and people who don’t like glitter and walking around in the heat. Over 300 people came into the little church on St. Paul Street, and we had a (quiet) blast!
A number of people who came inside the church for snacks, fellowship, crafts, and to shop at the all-gender thrift store were surprised that a church was throwing this very tender-hearted party. And were even more surprised that the four pastors throwing it were all queer.
I understand their surprise, but I also wish they knew that church at its best isn’t just accepting of gay people. Church is queer. To celebrate Pride Month, here is a non-exhaustive list of the gayest things about church.

- Vestments. Every week, pastors get dressed up in Clergy Drag – a decorative, seasonally colored scarf and a billowy dress. Some of you really commit to the bit and have tasseled stoles. Our Lutheran, Catholic, and Episopalian friends are the best at this. Have you seen a chasuble? With gold? A parade in costumes to speak and sing in front of an audience? That is gay.
- Caring for the Sick. There are subcultures in the queer community, just like there are in any larger identity group. At the height of the AIDS epidemic, when hospitals would not treat gay men, lesbians became their caregivers, in home or in makeshift hospitals. Caring for each other isn’t just one chapter of queer history; it is a thread through time. We give safe harbor and care to each other, and when the church does this well, we practice a part of queer culture.
- John’s Gospel. Claiming his family is the people who are with him, but not just blood relations. The Beloved Disciple (obvious). Mary Magdalene (powerful woman who later gets a bad reputation for sexual sins a Pope in 591 said she committed?). The first public sign being about a wedding that needs more wine. All gay.
- Baptism. When we emerge from the waters, we know God’s love and grace through the sign of the water. For millennia, Christians have been coming out (of the water) into new life. Christians do it once in baptism. Queer folks come out into new life every time we proclaim who we are – which is often, at least each time we’re in a new place or someone clocks our haircut.
- Saints. Presbyterians don’t have these, but they must be mentioned. Julian of Norwich lived in a room alone with cats (lesbian separatist). Hildegard of Bingen wrote music and cookbooks and foraged local vegetation for medicine and food (I’ve been assured this is bisexual culture). Others of note: Sebastian, Joan of Arc, Teresa of Avila, Thecla, Perpetua and Felicity.
- Name Changes. After a moment of deep transformation, Saul becomes Paul and Simon becomes Peter, and that is queer (specifically trans). In the queer community, the old names are called “Dead Names.” And just like the church doesn’t call the letter writer “Saul,” we don’t deadname our friends after they tell us who they are.
- Stained glass. I once attended a church that had upwards of 20 Tiffany stained glass windows, pink walls with hand-stenciled gold patterning, and an enormous chandelier, and not one of you can tell me that wasn’t the gayest, most flamboyant thing I’ve ever seen.
Happy Pride, my friends. I’ll see you at brunch.
– Rev. McKenna Lewellen, Maryland Presbyterian Church