LGBTQIA+ Spirituality
A note from Rev. Chris
The following proposal is meant to spark interest and action in interfaith and interspiritual exploration and service within the LGBTQIA+ community. As an out Gay man who was raised Roman Catholic, I had both positive and negative experiences as a practicing Christian. It was what lead me to find the common denominator in all our wisdom traditions: the search for love and reunion with the Divine Spirit that unites us all.
Now as an ordained interfaith and interspiritual minister, I seek to provide our community with positive and affirming spiritual experiences, including LGBTQIA+ affirming celebrations (e.g., same-sex weddings, alternative family baby blessings, etc.), spiritual counseling and community building.
These are my preliminary ideas. If you are a major donor to a LGBTQIA+ community service center, or serve on the staff or Board of your local LGBTQIA+ community center, and are interested in all or part of this proposal, I look forward to discussing it further with you and fleshing out the details.
Preliminary Proposal: Providing Interfaith and Interspiritual Services to the LGBTQIA+ Community through LGBTQIA+ Community Centers
By Rev. Christopher J. Portelli, Interfaith and Interspiritual Minister
The focus of this proposal is to introduce interfaith and interspiritual programming to LGBTQIA+ community centers and their members. This would include providing interfaith and interspiritual services to a diverse group of individuals who identify as queer or gender-nonconforming, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, questioning and intersex. The objective is to attract and serve LGBTQIA+ people who seek to begin or strengthen a connection with a Higher Power, God, or the Divine in a way and by a name most appropriate for them. They may identify as un-churched, “nones,” spiritual but not religious, unaffiliated religious, spiritually-inclined, or LGBTQIA+ folk in recovery, who have experienced the healing grace of a Higher Power, and everyone else who seeks a connection with the Divine.
Recognizing our uniqueness as spiritual beings (for example, the many ways throughout the ages that LGBTQIA+ people sought Spirit as Shamans, High Priestesses, Two Spirits, Mystics, etc.), the LGBTQIA+ community center is uniquely qualified to become a center for Queer Spirituality.
The goals would include (1) the Spiritual healing of wounds caused by rejection by mainline religious groups for LGBTQIA+ folks; and (2) building a spiritual community of LGBTQIA+ people from every faith tradition and no faith tradition, in an atmosphere of welcoming, affirming, non-judgmental and unconditional love, that meets regularly at their local LGBTQIA+-identified community center.
This can be achieved by offering a wide range of interfaith and interspiritual services at the local level:
Interfaith and interspiritual worship services on a weekly basis;
Small discussion group series that meet regularly (e.g., different groups meeting weekly for six weeks);
The provision of rituals and ceremonies to mark major life events, such as weddings, baby blessings, adolescent coming of age celebrations, blessing of the sick, funerals, memorials and other services;
Weekend retreats focused on the spiritual needs of different groups represented;
Hiring a Chaplain;
Launching a Queer Spirituality web page as part of the LGBTQIA+ community center website.
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Interfaith and Interspiritual Benediction of the LGBTQIA+ community center. Drumming circle, chanting from different faiths, and prayers from all the major faith traditions to mark the opening ceremonies of the new building.
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Roundtable Discussion on Queer Spirituality at the local LGBTQIA+ Pride festival.
Invite spiritual leaders from all faith traditions in the region who identify as LGBTQIA+ for a program that would include:
A meet-and-greet luncheon of all attending spiritual leaders, and the staff and Board of the center, with an opportunity to discuss the spiritual needs and challenges facing the LGBTQIA+ community
A Queer Spirituality round table discussion with these leaders, open to the LGBTQIA+ community
An LGBTQIA+ Community Interfaith Worship Service to close the day
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Begin weekly meetings of 6-week series of discussion groups on Queer Spirituality (September)
Groups broken down by ages (for example, groups for ages 18 to 28, ages 29 to 39, ages 40 to 60, etc). These may include:
A mixed LGBTQIA+ peopled group talking about Queer Spirit and the ways they experience the Divine
Lesbian groups (broken out by ages), Gay men’s groups (also by ages), Bisexual groups (by ages), Trans groups (by ages), Intersexed groups (by ages); all focused on their spiritual journeys and experiences
Offer opportunity for one-on-one interspiritual counseling sessions with an ordained interspiritual minister
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Introduce Weekly Interfaith Worship Services and Pot-luck Suppers on Saturday evenings at the center (October)
Have community members contribute to planning and organizing early Saturday evening supper and worship services
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Begin Offering Rituals and Ceremonies to mark major life events to LGBTQIA+ community Members at the center (January)
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Hire a LGBTQIA+ Interfaith Chaplain to coordinate all of above on an ongoing basis (January) and to launch a Queer Spirituality web page (April)
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Begin Weekend Queer Spirituality Retreat Series (One a month beginning in May and continuing for five months to September)
Weekend One: Trans Families
Weekend Two: Lesbian Moms /Gay Dads
Weekend Three: Married Gay Men/Married Lesbians- Couples Retreat
Weekend Four: LGBTQIA+ Youth
Weekend Five: Queer Shamanic Weekend
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Introduce free retreat weekends for low income and homeless LGBTQIA+ Youth (Summer)
This programming can be phased in over time:
Queer Spirituality Program Funding:
Raising funds to support all of the interspiritual programming and the hiring of an interfaith chaplain can occur in a variety of ways:
Donations by program participants (e.g., announcing “love offerings” will be accepted for weekly groups, set as “suggested donation: $5 per week for a six -week group, or $25 in advance for all six weeks”)
Fee-for-service for ceremonies (e.g., if inclusive of use of the LGBTQIA+ community center space, a wedding could bring upwards of $1,000)
Fee-for-service for hourly interspiritual counseling sessions (usually one full hour per month at $125 per hour)
Percentage of weekend retreat fees for retreats held at the community center can be used to bank free weekend retreats for low-income and homeless LGBTQIA+ youth
Foundation proposals to those foundations interested in funding spiritual programming for LGBTQIA+ people
Conclusion
These are my preliminary ideas. If you are a major donor, or serve on the staff or Board of your local LGBTQIA+ community center, and are interested in all or part of this proposal, I look forward to discussing it further with you and fleshing out the details.
Contact me at:
Rev. Christopher J. Portelli