Appreciating & Understanding Our Transgender and Nonbianary Neighbors
As we come together today to fully appreciate “a Dynamic God who defies definition”, we would like to share with you parts of a powerful and informative presentation provided by Reverend Lawrence Richardson. We have talked about God from the perspective of gender— Divine Feminine, Divine Masculine, and as a God unlimited by either one of these genders; reminding ourselves that gender is still just a human social construct. At a time when God’s people of transgender and nonbinary experience have been the targets of hatred, even here in Vermont, it is our responsibility to understand this marginalized community to help us to be more effective in our mission, ministry and advocacy.
One of the Resolutions from the 2003 General Synod reflects the critical focus of the UCC in working towards inclusion and protection of our transgender community members:
AFFIRMING THE PARTICIPATION AND MINISTRY OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WITHIN THE UCC AND SUPPORTING THEIR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Expected outcomes of the resolution are:
It is now twenty years since the UCC has affirmed this resolution. We do consider ourselves to be a welcoming church, but we are not yet inclusive. We have work ahead of us to be more inclusive in those ways expected and supported by the United Church of Christ. It is with great joy that we move ahead together, growing from a strong foundation built on love. So let us begin this work together!
We all have some understanding of how gender is typically defined biologically. But what is gender exactly?
Creation and the Gender Binary - Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:18-24When Christians think about gender, they tend to go back to the beginning. In Genesis, we find two stories about how things came to be, one of which says “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, NRSV). If you grew up hearing these stories and living with people who seemed to fit inside these gender boxes, the existence of transgender people might seem to fly in the face of God’s created order. However, when we look just a little closer at each of these passages we find a much more complex and beautiful world. For instance, when God creates men and women in Genesis 1, it’s after creating opposites in every other corner of creation--day and night, land and sea, flying birds and swimming fish. Humans, then, are also created in an opposite pair--male and female. But the problem with a literal reading of this text is that even though Genesis 1 sets up these binaries, God’s creation exists in spectrums.
In between day and night we have dawn and dusk; between land and sea we have coral reefs and estuaries and beaches; between flying birds and swimming fish we have penguins and high jumping dolphins, not to mention that uncategorizable favorite the platypus! No one would argue…that an estuary isn’t pleasing to God because it’s neither land nor sea. In the same way, God gives every human a self that is unique and may not always fit neatly into a box or binary. Among cisgender people -- that is those whose gender identities align with the sex they were assigned at birth, or non-transgender people -- there is a wide variety in height, strength, hair distribution, size and shape of reproductive organs, and nearly all other physical characteristics, which makes it hard for every single person on earth to fit neatly inside one culture’s categories of man or woman. There is, too, a diversity among transgender and non-binary people when it comes to bodies, personalities, beliefs and experiences. But rather than writing Genesis 1 off as fiction that doesn’t match reality, many affirming Christians recognize that the stories set down in this chapter were never meant to catalog all of creation (in which case, it would just be an encyclopedia), but rather to point us towards God’s power and love. Not every microbe and constellation must be named in this chapter in order to have a purpose and a blessing.
https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people
Everyone has a gender identity and expression. Some of us have a gender identity and gender expression that is the same gender. In this case we use the terms cis female and cis male. For those whose gender identity and gender expression are not the same, the term trans female or trans male is used.
Rev. Richardson asked us to consider the following question:
What has been assumed about you based on your gender? Some responses could include how you will respond emotionally, what colors you will like, what kind of jobs you might pursue. What else would you add? Is it reasonable to make assumptions based on gender? Can this be limiting?
From these question, we then reach one that asks us to think of our relationship and connection to God:
Is our embodiment the only way that we believe we are made in the image of God if we are told to Love the Lord our God with all your Heart (emotions), Soul (spirit), Mind (thoughts), & Strength (body)? We, too, are unlimited by an assigned gender in the eye’s of God as we bring our full selves to God as we see God. Each of us connects to God in ways that are personal but universal, through body, mind and spirit.
In beginning to increase one’s understanding of the lives of others and to be authentically inclusive, we need to shift from us/them thinking to “We thinking”. As a congregation, “we thinking” is critical when considering people who do not identify as you do personally or express their gender in ways not limited by cultural norms.
Gender in Christian community - Galatians 3:28
One of the most difficult things human beings have had to learn how to do is to work together despite our differences, and that’s no less true in the church. There are times when we emphasize the things that we share, and times when we have to emphasize our different gifts and talents even when they seem to put us at odds. We see this tension play out in many of the Apostle Paul’s letters to the early Christian churches, and in his letter to the Galatians he tows this line again when he says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NRSV). While on the surface this verse may suggest that we ignore or even try to get rid of our differences, it’s also clear from the rest of Paul’s letters that he took these differences seriously during his ministry. (https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people)
From this, we are taught the importance of not ignoring differences. This is disrespectful. Instead each of us must work to embrace others in their full embodiment. Each of us is unique in our race, ethnicity, class, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation … any attribute or quality you might imagine. A church that is open and affirming at its core, does not say, “Despite who you are, you can come here.” A church that is open and affirming does not politely tolerate “the other.” The church we hope to be is one that truly welcomes all people. Period. All people can be full members and have all the rights and responsibility as members. This is what it means to be welcoming in the eyes of God.
In service, Mary Brown, Natalie Coe, Karen Festa, Celia Schneider, Lynn Stack (ONA committee)
If you would like to bring anything to the committee, please contact Mary or Celia.
Mary Brown [email protected] 802-345-4502
Celia Schneider [email protected] 802-273-2406
As we come together today to fully appreciate “a Dynamic God who defies definition”, we would like to share with you parts of a powerful and informative presentation provided by Reverend Lawrence Richardson. We have talked about God from the perspective of gender— Divine Feminine, Divine Masculine, and as a God unlimited by either one of these genders; reminding ourselves that gender is still just a human social construct. At a time when God’s people of transgender and nonbinary experience have been the targets of hatred, even here in Vermont, it is our responsibility to understand this marginalized community to help us to be more effective in our mission, ministry and advocacy.
One of the Resolutions from the 2003 General Synod reflects the critical focus of the UCC in working towards inclusion and protection of our transgender community members:
AFFIRMING THE PARTICIPATION AND MINISTRY OF TRANSGENDER PEOPLE WITHIN THE UCC AND SUPPORTING THEIR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Expected outcomes of the resolution are:
- the strengthening of the United Church of Christ through deepening hospitality declarations
- the enriching of church life and mission as the ministries of transgender members are encouraged
- the increase of righteousness in society as the human & civil rights of transgender persons are addressed
It is now twenty years since the UCC has affirmed this resolution. We do consider ourselves to be a welcoming church, but we are not yet inclusive. We have work ahead of us to be more inclusive in those ways expected and supported by the United Church of Christ. It is with great joy that we move ahead together, growing from a strong foundation built on love. So let us begin this work together!
We all have some understanding of how gender is typically defined biologically. But what is gender exactly?
Creation and the Gender Binary - Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:18-24When Christians think about gender, they tend to go back to the beginning. In Genesis, we find two stories about how things came to be, one of which says “So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27, NRSV). If you grew up hearing these stories and living with people who seemed to fit inside these gender boxes, the existence of transgender people might seem to fly in the face of God’s created order. However, when we look just a little closer at each of these passages we find a much more complex and beautiful world. For instance, when God creates men and women in Genesis 1, it’s after creating opposites in every other corner of creation--day and night, land and sea, flying birds and swimming fish. Humans, then, are also created in an opposite pair--male and female. But the problem with a literal reading of this text is that even though Genesis 1 sets up these binaries, God’s creation exists in spectrums.
In between day and night we have dawn and dusk; between land and sea we have coral reefs and estuaries and beaches; between flying birds and swimming fish we have penguins and high jumping dolphins, not to mention that uncategorizable favorite the platypus! No one would argue…that an estuary isn’t pleasing to God because it’s neither land nor sea. In the same way, God gives every human a self that is unique and may not always fit neatly into a box or binary. Among cisgender people -- that is those whose gender identities align with the sex they were assigned at birth, or non-transgender people -- there is a wide variety in height, strength, hair distribution, size and shape of reproductive organs, and nearly all other physical characteristics, which makes it hard for every single person on earth to fit neatly inside one culture’s categories of man or woman. There is, too, a diversity among transgender and non-binary people when it comes to bodies, personalities, beliefs and experiences. But rather than writing Genesis 1 off as fiction that doesn’t match reality, many affirming Christians recognize that the stories set down in this chapter were never meant to catalog all of creation (in which case, it would just be an encyclopedia), but rather to point us towards God’s power and love. Not every microbe and constellation must be named in this chapter in order to have a purpose and a blessing.
https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people
Everyone has a gender identity and expression. Some of us have a gender identity and gender expression that is the same gender. In this case we use the terms cis female and cis male. For those whose gender identity and gender expression are not the same, the term trans female or trans male is used.
Rev. Richardson asked us to consider the following question:
What has been assumed about you based on your gender? Some responses could include how you will respond emotionally, what colors you will like, what kind of jobs you might pursue. What else would you add? Is it reasonable to make assumptions based on gender? Can this be limiting?
From these question, we then reach one that asks us to think of our relationship and connection to God:
Is our embodiment the only way that we believe we are made in the image of God if we are told to Love the Lord our God with all your Heart (emotions), Soul (spirit), Mind (thoughts), & Strength (body)? We, too, are unlimited by an assigned gender in the eye’s of God as we bring our full selves to God as we see God. Each of us connects to God in ways that are personal but universal, through body, mind and spirit.
In beginning to increase one’s understanding of the lives of others and to be authentically inclusive, we need to shift from us/them thinking to “We thinking”. As a congregation, “we thinking” is critical when considering people who do not identify as you do personally or express their gender in ways not limited by cultural norms.
Gender in Christian community - Galatians 3:28
One of the most difficult things human beings have had to learn how to do is to work together despite our differences, and that’s no less true in the church. There are times when we emphasize the things that we share, and times when we have to emphasize our different gifts and talents even when they seem to put us at odds. We see this tension play out in many of the Apostle Paul’s letters to the early Christian churches, and in his letter to the Galatians he tows this line again when he says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, NRSV). While on the surface this verse may suggest that we ignore or even try to get rid of our differences, it’s also clear from the rest of Paul’s letters that he took these differences seriously during his ministry. (https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people)
From this, we are taught the importance of not ignoring differences. This is disrespectful. Instead each of us must work to embrace others in their full embodiment. Each of us is unique in our race, ethnicity, class, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation … any attribute or quality you might imagine. A church that is open and affirming at its core, does not say, “Despite who you are, you can come here.” A church that is open and affirming does not politely tolerate “the other.” The church we hope to be is one that truly welcomes all people. Period. All people can be full members and have all the rights and responsibility as members. This is what it means to be welcoming in the eyes of God.
In service, Mary Brown, Natalie Coe, Karen Festa, Celia Schneider, Lynn Stack (ONA committee)
If you would like to bring anything to the committee, please contact Mary or Celia.
Mary Brown [email protected] 802-345-4502
Celia Schneider [email protected] 802-273-2406