God loves everyone.
That was Chicago Theological Seminary's ( CTS's ) Transgender Day of Remembrance chapel's message Nov. 18 in transgender pastor the Rev. Lawrence Richardson's sermon.
"Everything you are is OK. Even the things you are not [are] OK, because everything in you is greater than everything that could ever come against you," Richardson said.
Richardson pastors Shift United Church of Christ, an online ministry of more than 50,000 followers. Richardson, who is based in the Minneapolis area, also is the Center for Progressive Renewal's social-media strategist, Extravagance United Church of Christ's digital evangelist and a writer for The Salt Collective.
Richardson, who was LaTeasha Richardson before transitioning, said God wasn't queerphobia's source.
"You see, I never doubted God's love for me. It was the people who rejected mewho ostracized mewho ... caused me to lose hope," he said.
Hopelessness turned into tragedy. Rejection drove Richardson to attempt suicide.
"I felt like if I was going to live in hell, then it doesn't make any difference whether I die and go to hell or not because it's the same thing," he said.
The Rev. Phiwa Langeni, a transgender CTS Ph. D. student, offered a personal reflection on navigating life as a pastor and parent. Langeni serves as senior pastor of Zion United Church of Christ in St. Louis.
They ( Langeni's preferred pronoun ) shared the experience of coming out to their congregation and being openly affirmed by the congregation. Langeni also shared their experience of coming out transgender to the wider community via Facebook and discovering overwhelming support as they recovered from a recent transition procedure.
Ember Kelley, a transgender Master of Divinity student, welcomed everyone into the seminary's fourth-floor chapel with a prayer.
This writer, Jason Carson Wilson, is a Master of Divinity student at CTS. Wilson recited "The Courage To Have Pride," a poem that he wrote. Fellow student Clyde Easter sang two songs: "You Were There," by Michael Jackson, and "I Am Not Forgotten," by Israel & New Breed.
A link to the chapel service is at www.youtube.com/watch .