Interfaith leaders revive Pride Service at Spokane Episcopal Cathedral
More than 50 people gathered at Spokane’s Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist for an Interfaith Pride Service celebrating inclusion, healing and LGBTQ+ dignity.
By Gen Heywood | FāVS News Photographer
On June 10, more than 50 people from eastern Washington gathered at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to celebrate an Interfaith Pride Service. No one present could remember it ever happening in a house of faith before.
“In the Episcopal tradition, cathedrals are meant to be houses of prayer for all people, and so spaces for all people,” said the Very Rev. Heather VanDeventer. “So, it fits really well to be able to open up the Cathedral for this. And if we have concerts here, why not have an Interfaith Pride Service here?”
Due to work and life complications, the service was not held last year, but VanDeventer, who is the dean of the Cathedral, said she felt badly the event was put on pause in Spokane.
This realization came to her at an event she attended in April with other Episcopal church leaders from the U.S., Canada and other countries
“I was standing in the back of the room, and I felt just convicted, that we had put [the Interfaith Pride Service] on pause here,” she said.
VanDeventer determined that the service would happen this year, and she would host it at the Cathedral.
She checked with the Rev. Jan Shannon, who has led these services in the past, but whose health has kept her from leading them recently. With Shannon’s encouragement, VanDeventer put out the word to all those who have helped lead in the past.
‘Stay true to who you are’
Ven. Thubten Ngawang, from Sravasti Abbey, spoke with delight in being in the Cathedral. He was comfortable in all the places the service had been held and was delighted to be in this sacred space.
He brought a message of meeting every sentient being as a relative in our common experience of suffering and the desire to live with happiness.
Ngawang told the story of meeting a man in Newport who questioned his gender identity and criticized his robes. Ngawang engaged the man with compassion and an invitation to come to the Abbey and learn more. The stranger was curious, came to visit and has become a friend of the Abbey.
“The Buddha taught that our mind is the source of our happiness and pain. That it’s by changing how we think that it changes how we interpret what happens in our life,” Ngawang said. “It changes our experience. And when we interpret the events in our life differently, then of course, we respond to them differently.”
Ngawang shared a teaching about not picking up the abuse and insults others try to give us. He related that if we do not pick these up, they remain the possessions of the other person.
“If we don’t buy into what they’re saying, if we don’t believe what they’re saying about us, but can stay true to who we are, we don’t have to define ourselves based on the words or the thoughts of others,” he said. “We don’t have to believe what others say about us. And especially, we don’t have to define ourselves by opposing what others say about us.”
Seeing the divine in everyone
Jane McKinney, a member of the Cathedral, and a leader of the young adult Bible study, shared her journey with “The Truth,” describing it with two capital Ts.
She spoke about growing up in the Christmas Tree Capital of Oregon where her conservative church taught her about “The Truth” and how she has learned that “The Truth” is made of partial truths that get closer to “The Truth” through life experiences.
“I go by Jane, but my first name is actually January. I have a middle name and a last name and a dead name and a street address and a social security number, but I’m not going to recite those this evening,” she said.
McKinney defined her name Jane as being a half truth as her name is January. She is from Oregon, but that only describes a part of who she is as her passport reads her place of birth as Saudi Arabia.
“In the past, I have watched TSA agents go from smiling normally to the seven stages of grief as they read my passport and change the way that they’re interacting with me,” she said.
Jane invited people to keep exploring their truths and seeing the divine in everyone around them.
Growing up in the evangelical world, she spoke of the concept of all people being fearfully and wonderfully made, calling it a “powerful sentence.”
“But wonder is the thing that’s easier to describe in a positive light than fear,” McKinney said. “But being unique is kind of terrifying, you know? It’s kind of nice to just be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I fit into a group.’”
The closest she’s felt to the concept of truth has been that she is Jane, “that weird trans-girl from Saudi Arabia, and the joy of being in a fearful and wonderful world is that I share it with other people.”
Uplifting the dignity of the queer community
Brianna Dilts, from Faith Action Network (FAN) — a multi-faith statewide advocacy partnership, attended the event.
Dilts, eastern Washington’s regional organizer for FAN, shared why she attended.
“This is the second Interfaith Pride Service I’ve been to, and to me, it’s a really important community event that uplifts the wholeness of dignity … in our queer community,” said Dilts, FAN’s eastern Washington regional organizer. “A lot of people have trauma from faith communities and being excluded and not accepted for who they are. So, it’s really important for me and for FAN to show up and support [this event].”
Letting love shine
Jordan Gortner also attended the event. As a child of two Episcopal priests and a member of the Cathedral, she said the event showed God’s love.
“This service is a representation of just complete support and letting love shine through this diocese, through this denomination, and, for me specifically, shown from my parents,” Gortner said.
A service made for healing
This year’s Pride Interfaith Service meant a great deal to Jake Schwartz, the new president of Spokane Pride.
“It’s healing for me as a former evangelical worship pastor who was deeply, deeply closeted. It reminds me that I am loved, not just because some parts of society say so, but because I am made in the image of the divine,” Schwartz said. “I’m not alone, even when I feel like it. And I’m not alone because I know my creator loves me.”
Next year’s Pride Interfaith Service already being planned
At the end of the service, all those present determined that the 2027 Interfaith Pride Service will be held at St. John’s Cathedral on the Wednesday before the Spokane Pride Weekend. All are welcome.
Also, VanDeventer added that next year the community can expect the Cathedral to light up with rainbow colors.
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