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This faith can, however, yield damaging results. Reconciliation, and the wrestling it requires, is the purest form of faith.
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“That’s what queer people do and have been doing for a long time, is figuring out how to adapt ourselves to the world or how to adapt the world to us.” According to Lizzi Heydemann, rabbi and founder of Mishkan Chicago, the word “Israel” itself means “to wrestle,” after the Biblical figure who wrestled with an angel. “A queer perspective of the world is exactly what the world needs to improve,” McGlynn said. Kardon, who described Chicago as an “epicenter of a burgeoning movement of bold, queer Christian experiences,” said that this phenomenon is logical, since there’s a difference between belief and the institutions that build rules around it - the latter frequently only functions with the former.Īccording to Mahdia Lynn, executive director of Chicago’s Masjid al-Rabia, an LGBTQ and women-focused mosque, the only way to build a space for everyone is to “center disabled people and women and LGBT people.” In fact, Mandie McGlynn, an interfaith worshipper across Christian and Jewish denominations, said that placing queer experiences at the forefront of faith is an inevitable path forward. “The fact that there’s somebody out there who finds that message scary means that somebody else didn’t know they could be seen and loved, both in their belief in God and their trans identity, and was moved by them.”įaith itself supplies this demand - Lilli Kornblum, board liaison to Or Chadash, an LGBTQ-focused Jewish congregation within Temple Sholom, said that “most of us are looking for some spiritual connection, especially now.” But in Chicago, conservative and progressive values run into one another, and spaces like Affirming Worship emerge from the fault line, spanning religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam. “The fact that there is this kind of response makes the fact that they have those flags even more important,” Kardon said. Hannah Kardon, pastor at Urban Village Church, said that the incident, while emblematic of a preexisting divide, points toward the work in progress. In June, pride flags were vandalized by an unknown individual at Wicker Park Church a transgender flag was marked with an X and a rainbow flag marked with the words “We love kids.” Wicker Park pastor Jason Glombicki said this unfortunately supported his “general lived experience” as a gay man, though the plan is to keep new pride flags up. Frequently, this determination moves beyond the theoretical. She noted that the same can be true within LGBTQ spaces, as members of the community tend to mistrust religion “because of the harm witnessed or experienced.”Īccording to Crosby, division can be a pervasive mindset, generating the perception that queer individuals don’t belong in faith spaces. “Sometimes it’s said by people in religious forums that we have to divorce ourselves from our queer selves to function in religious spaces,” Crosby said. Hundl said that this easy story defies reality. The common narrative, one Affirming Worship works against, is that queerness and faith are disparate.
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Rainbow colors flash across singers’ faces the bass player wears a T-shirt: “Conversion Therapy Dropout.” A pride flag hangs against the brick wall, and Joshua Hundl, a drag performer, wears a dress that says “God is gay, nonbinary, pan, queer.” Ravenscraft steps up to the mic after the first song, smiles. The format is left intentionally open: Ravenscraft and other organizers perform music and invite attendees to share their stories. It is, Ravenscraft said, a sacred space, but made so by the members within it. It’s a space for queer individuals in the Chicago area to discover or rediscover faith, separate from a church in which they may feel uncomfortable. The organization, founded in March 2019 by Kelly Ravenscraft, 22, and Michael McBride, 38, works against what a traditional Christian might think of as Mass.
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CHICAGO - The second Tuesday of every month, Affirming Worship holds church in Atmosphere, an Andersonville gay bar.