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Pacific Northwest’s LGBTQ+ community discovers inclusive faith spaces
Across the Pacific Northwest, LGBTQ+ people are finding welcoming churches where faith and identity can coexist.
By Emma Maple | FāVS News Reporter
In a world where LGBTQ+ and Christian are often viewed as two incompatible identities, affirming churches across the Pacific Northwest are addressing the conflict head-on through groups formed specifically for LGBTQ+ people who are exploring faith.
“We often talk about how we feel too queer for Christian spaces, and too Christian for queer spaces,” Lindsey Montzingo, co-leader of a group called Queer and Faithful, said. “This is kind of that perfect place, where we can fully be ourselves.”
Queer and Faithful, which was founded by a former interim pastor at Salt House Church in Kirkland, Washington, is just one iteration of the many types of LGBTQ+ Christian groups that can exist. Some meet exclusively to discuss Christian topics, some meet solely to form community among LGBTQ+ people, and some are a mix of both. Some groups are explicitly tied to a religious organization, while others are operated by the church but are not explicitly Christian spaces.
One unifying factor among all groups, however, is the desire to provide LGBTQ+ people a place where they can feel like they belong — especially when the larger Christian world doesn’t promote that message.
‘A breath of fresh air’
That’s exactly why Ryan Moeller, the other co-leader of Queer and Faithful, joined the group. Having been raised Christian, he stepped away from the faith as he discovered his LGBTQ+ identity. After that, he said that he struggled to reconcile both parts of himself and find a community that celebrated both of his identities.
“When I first found Salt House as a church, and was introduced to the group the first time, I felt a breath of fresh air,” he said. “These people are living an authentic life.”
Montzingo agreed.
“There’s so many people on the queer side of the debate who say the church isn’t accepting of you, ‘Why don’t you just leave,’” they said, adding that there are “so many people on the Christian side who say, ‘Why don’t you just not be queer anymore.’”
LGBTQ+ Christian groups are a place where people don’t have to struggle with that tension, Montzingo said.
“You just can’t get that level of understanding outside of having that place that’s just for us,” they added.
‘Need for a safe space’
Having religious groups for LGBTQ+ people is especially important in today’s political climate, according to the Rev. Adam Conley, a priest at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington.
Conley also helps lead the church’s Queer in Christ group, which organizes Bible studies and social events for LGBTQ+ people and allies.
St. Mark’s used to have a different LGBTQ+ group years ago, but it disbanded once LGBTQ+ Christians saw themselves represented in leadership at the church, Conley said. A few years ago, the church once again started up an LGBTQ+ Christian group under its roof.
“I think there was a real identification again with a need for a safe space to gather and to connect and to explore some of the questions of what’s happening around us,” Conley said.”I think there’s a need to have conversations around our lived reality in the world as it is right now.”
The LGBTQ+ Christian groups are a place to explore the intersection of those identities, but most groups don’t require people to be religious — which is giving some LGBTQ+ people the place to explore faith again.
“I think there’s a real curiosity about what Christianity can look like if it’s not brow beating you over the head because of some perceived sexual ethic,” Conley said. “The body of Christ has always been diverse. Anything that tries to shut that down is actually, I think it’s anti-Christian, in my opinion.”
‘Being both queer and Christian’
Many of the groups have social hours — including hikes, bowling, board games and more — as well as discussions that tackle tough topics, like the intersection of being LGBTQ+ and Christian.
Queer and Faithful, for example, organized a Bible study where a central question being considered is “how our queerness impacted our faith,” according to Montzingo.
“We’re kind of there to meet people in the middle,” Moeller added. “We’re a safe space to come and explore that, whether you want to dive into a text or a book study or spend time with people in the same journey, that’s kind of the space we’ve created through our events and through our Bible and book studies and such.”
Overall, one goal many groups discussed was the desire to show people it is possible to align both identities that can be seen as polar opposites.
“For us, it’s more about being visible and being comfortable being both queer and Christian,” Montzingo said.
“Like it or not, we deserve a place in the church, too,” they said.
‘Queering’ the church
For some religious institutions, “queerness” is woven into the very fabric of the church’s existence.
Sunnyslope Church in Wenatchee, Washington, is an example. The church both sponsors a LGBTQ+ affinity group and has a leadership team that consists predominantly of LGBTQ+ people, which affects the church’s outlook on the gospel.
“I think the way that we understand our relationship to the gospel is we’re called to be the breakers of binaries, which separate and divide people, and we are called to subvert power structures,” the Rev. Dane Breslin said. “That’s very much a part of our ethos.”
That way of viewing the world is not limited to LGBTQ+ people, Breslin added.
“To queer something, as a verb, is something everyone should be in the work of doing regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said.
The Community of Hope Mennonite Church based in Bellingham, Washington, approaches theology with a similar perspective, focused on “centering queer theology” according to Pastor Rachael Weasley.
“Queer theology,” according to Weasley, transforms “all the things we do in the life of our church, for the benefit of queer people and everyone else who comes.”
The theology involves drawing connections between LGBTQ+ theory, Biblical studies and interpretations of political events, Weasley said. It also means that, “when we’re looking for God, we’re looking for God on the edges, and in between, not just in binaries,” she added.
That mentality shows up in practical ways, like through the use of a variety of pronouns for God when doing liturgies, or imagining God being nonbinary.
The church has a large population of LGBTQ+ people, Weasley said, but is by no means exclusive to people who belong to the LGBTQ+ umbrella.
“I just think queer theology is good news for everyone,” she said.
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