Love is a Many-Gendered Thing
A Service of Celebration for LGBTIQ Pride

This service includes language that some might find offensive.  It does so not only in an effort to shake us out of our complacency and open our eyes, ears and hearts to the new things God is doing in our midst, but also in an effort to reclaim language that has been used to harm.  It strives to name identities, characters, and people often excluded from sacred words and spaces.  It invites us to be challenged and to embrace discomfort as a source for transformation.  

Adapt this service to the particularities of your worshipping community.  Consider places where you might add or change words in prayers, songs and worship texts, so that more people in your congregation might encounter expressions that celebrate who they are.  

At the end of the service are several glossaries of LGBTQ terms.

We Gather

Call to Worship
Starting from the back of the worship space, leaders read while ushers and others pass out a variety of parade materials (strings of colored beads, leis, rainbow flags, signs, etc.) and urge, cajole, lure people into the aisles.  Make sure those who aren’t able to get up and out also get parade materials and encourage them to participate from their seats.  All hub-bub is embraced and enjoyed!

Leader:	People of God, join the crowd; don’t let the parade pass you by.
Assembly:	We’re here, we’re queer; let’s praise God.  

Leader:	Bring your whole selves; leave no part behind.
Assembly:	We’re here, we’re queer, let’s praise God.  

Leader: 	Show the world who you are; witness to the Love that knows no bounds.
Assembly: 	We’re here, we’re queer, let’s praise God. 

Leader: 	Join together across differences; rejoice in the many colors of the rainbow.  
Assembly: 	We’re here, we’re queer, let’s praise God. 

Leader: 	Worship God in the beauty of this holiness; we are the family of God!
Assembly:	We’re here, we’re queer, let’s praise God!

Play the traditional gay pride anthem “We Are Family” and have ushers lead the people in dancing around the church in procession to the music.  Or invite your choir or band to learn and lead the song.  You could even take the procession outside if you wanted.  After several choruses, lead folks back to the sanctuary and encourage them to find their seats.  

Leader: 	Now let us continue our celebrating by raising our voices together in song, 			praising God together singing  Dance Into Joy!

Song of Praise		Dance Into Joy                               Sing! Prayer and Praise  #205

Time of Reconciliation
	Call to Confession
Leader: 	One of the spiritual gifts that some queer people often have 
is the ability to cut through the bull and get to the heart of things, 
the realities too easily ignored.  
As a gay friend once said, 
“I spent too much time trying to cover up who I was 
to not be real and true to myself now, 
and to make sure that others are doing the same.”  
It is in that spirit that we are called to confess the truths about our lives, 
both the truths we want to celebrate and the truths we want to hide.  
As followers of Christ we are called to bring our whole selves before God and before each other, so that we might be truly reconciled 
with one another and with God.  
Trusting in God’s mercy, full of pride and full of humility, let us pray: 

Prayer of Confession
Holy One, God of many names and many identities, 
we praise you for the extravagant diversity of your creation.  
From clown fish who change gender to promote the flourishing of the school and penguins who forge same-sex bonds to care for their young, 
from forget-me-nots that reproduce asexually 
to olive trees with three genders, 
you teach us the many ways in which your Spirit of relational love 
and nurturing care manifests in our world.  
We confess that sometimes our understandings of gender and sexuality 
limit the ways in which we know each other and know you.  
Forgive us when we, 
personally and as a society, 
use names and definitions as weapons to oppress 
or as fences to exclude.  
Free us from the constraints of our narrow views 
and expand our vision 
so that we might recognize and enjoy 
the capacious creativity of bodily expressions 
that reveal your infinite glory.  
In the name of the One who is Many, we pray.  Amen.  

Words of Assurance
Leader:	Beloved ones of God, hear the good news: 
		in Jesus Christ, we are a new creation. 
Assembly:	God has reconciled us to Godself and to each other 
		through the love and grace made tangible and touchable in Christ.
Leader:	In the light of God’s love, we are free to live fully and wildly, 
		affirmed and accepted as beloved children of God.  
Assembly:	Joined together with our Loving Partner, 
		let our lives bring joy, justice and compassion into the world.   
Leader:	In the spirit of this joyful exuberance, 
		let us sing praise to our promiscuously loving God. 

Song of Praise	Love Makes a Bridge vs. 1-3 Singing the Living Tradition #325
			or
			The Universe is Bending  Sing! Prayer and Praise #88

We Proclaim

Sung Response	  Listening Now (chorus only)	          Sing! Prayer and Praise #160

Scripture	Ruth 1:1-18

Testimony
Invite a GTILBQ member of your community or another faith community to give a short (2-5 minutes) testimony about the grace of companionship and relational love in their lives.  If no one is available, use a clip from one of the many “It Gets Better” videos or other LGBTIQ documentaries that offer this kind of testimony.  

Sung Response		Listening Now (chorus only)

Scripture	Psalm 139:1-18

Testimony	
Invite a BGTILQ member of your community or another faith community to give a short (2-5 minutes) testimony about the experience of coming to recognize God’s acceptance and affirmation of them for who they are.  If no one is available, try using a clip from “Call Me Malcolm” or “For the Bible Tells Me So” or another LGBTIQ documentary that offers this kind of testimony.  

Sung Response		Listening Now (chorus only)

Scripture	Luke 10:25-37	

Testimony (or short sermon/meditation)
Invite a ITLGBQ or straight ally who is a  member of your community or another faith community to give a short (2-5 minutes) testimony about experiencing and responding to God’s call to serve with love and compassion across the boundaries of difference that so often divide us.  As an alternative, a short sermon could be offered here. 

We Respond

Hymn of Celebration		I Cannot Dance, O Love                  Chalice Hymnal #290
 					Unless You Lead Me

Prayers of the People
	Sharing of Joys and Concerns
	
Time of Silent Prayer
	
A Litany of Thanksgiving
Holy God, Infinite Possibility, who hears all of our prayers, 
whether spoken or unspoken, hear our praise and prayers 
for all the many ways your image shows in and through us.  

For women who nurture and care for living things, and men who bring love to birth, 
for people who create and people who procreate, we thank you.
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For men who lead with conviction and power, and women who “wear the pants,” 
for trans people who forge new pathways and queers who break new ground, 
we thank you.
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For butches who protect the vulnerable and femmes who defend the helpless, 
for communities who look out for the least of these, we thank you.  
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For bottoms who offer extravagant hospitality and tops who welcome in the stranger, 
for families who embrace others as kin, we thank you. 
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For eunuchs who traverse boundaries and virgins who live “outside the box,” 
for widows who flout conventions and celibates who inhabit the in-between.  
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For tomboys who challenge the status quo and sissies who imagine new possibilities, 
for ancestors who lived their way into a world transformed, we thank you. 
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

For all the ways we embody difference and discover commonality, 
for all the avenues we have to encounter your love, we thank you.  
We praise you for Love made flesh.  

O God, whom no image can encompass, no definition encircle, and yet, 
who meets us in the gentle and fierce touch of love, 
keep our hearts ever-expanding, 
so that we might rejoice in the extravagant abundance of your grace 
and revel in your infinite creativity.  
In the many names of the Holy One, we pray.  Amen.  

Offering
	Call to the Offering
This is the time in our worship service where we normally ask you to take out your wallets and give something to support the ministries of this community of faith. It is the time when we implore you to put your time, talent and treasure where your heart is.  But on this very special day of celebration, God is calling us to turn things upside down.  Today we acknowledge that, for many years, Christian churches have benefitted from the gifts of bisexual, lesbian, transgender, gay, intersex and queer people, while at the same time failing to affirm that we are all beloved ones of God.  So, on this Pride Sunday, instead of giving an offering, you are invited to receive one.  When the offering plate passes by, take a slip of paper out of it and receive these gifts with a generous heart.  

Have church members and volunteers handwrite words of affirmation on slips of paper.  They can be favorite quotes (like a portion of Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” poem), bible verses (like Luke 3:22 “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my [child], the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”), or just statements of support and encouragement (like, “you are loved, affirmed, and accepted for the glorious person that you are”).  Put them in the offering plates or baskets and pass them around as you normally would.  Instead of people putting money in, they can take a slip of paper out.

Around the sanctuary, you’ll also find tables with postcards for you to write on.  If you feel moved to pass along the words of affirmation you have received, go to the tables and write out a postcard.  You can take it with you and send it to an LGBTIQ person you know and love, or, if you leave it on the table, we will take it to our local TGBL community center where they will be given to queer youth.    

Get some of the “God is Still Speaking” rainbow comma postcards from the UCC or make your own.  Place them on tables around the sanctuary with pens, pencils, crayons, etc. and stamps.  Make sure there are tables accessible to kids and youth and those of differing physical abilities.

People of God, receive God’s gifts of love and care.  
Our morning offering will now be given.  

	Offertory
	Doxology (to the tune OLD HUNDRETH)
Praise God for Love embracing all.
Praise God for queer ones, great and small.
With joyful hearts, we celebrate
the different loves that God creates.
	
	Prayer of Dedication
Leader:  	Holy God, Generous Lover, we are so thankful that you are still speaking, whispering, singing and shouting to each of us with the compassionate voice of acceptance and the grace-filled challenge of affirmation.  For all these gifts of love, we thank you.  For all the places, people and situations in need of your justice and mercy, we implore you.  For all the ways in which we are called to turn the world inside out and upside down, we ask your guidance and support.  Use us so that we might use our gifts to disrupt the powers that would limit your love, and keep widening the circle of your welcome.  
Assembly: 	Amen.  
   
Communion
	Invitation
Leader 1:	We are family: the family of God, created in God’s image, 
		expressing God’s desires, living in God’s love. 

Leader 2:	If we know anything about God, 
we know that our God loves a good party. 

Leader 1:	If we know anything about God, 
		we know that our God is the queerest of all.   

Leader 2: 	This is God’s party, and you all are invited.  
		Every single one of you has a place at THE BIG QUEER TABLE.  

Leader 1: 	So come, come to the party you gay men, you lesbians, you queers,
		you old queens, you baby dykes, you straight-but-not-narrows, 
		you single people, you couples, you loving communities, you celibates, 			you omni-sexuals, you asexuals, you bisexuals, 
you who love in secret, you who dance from the rooftops, 
you trans people, you intersex people, 

Leader 2:	Who else?  Who else is coming to this table?  
		[invite people to shout out other kinds of people 
		who are invited to God’s party]

Leader 1:	All of you! Come, come, come! 
 
Leader 2:	We are a different kind of family, a queer family, the family of God.  
 
Leader 1: 	This is our wild, wonderful community 
		where you get come just as you are.  Praise God!  Now, let’s eat!

Communion Prayer
	Leader: 	God does amazing things, 
creates amazing things, reveals amazing things.  
			What are some of the amazing things that God has created?
			invite people to call out things in creation that they celebrate

	Leader: 	For all these amazing things, we praise God saying, yay God!
	Assembly: 	Yay God!

	Leader:	God became one of us in Jesus the queer Christ, 
who disrupted the status quo and broke bread with those who others had deemed undesirable, untouchable, unworthy.  
			What are some of the injustices in our world that need to be disrupted?
			invite people to call out things that need redeeming in our world

	Leader:	For God’s promises of redemption in the midst of all of these injustices, 				we praise God saying, yay God!
	Assembly: 	Yay God!

	Leader:	God’s Spirit dwells among us, 
empowering us to live out God’s love, 					peace, and integrity in the world.  
			What are some of the ways that God’s Spirit is moving among us?  
			invite people to name the ministries that flourish in their own lives 
			and in the life of this community of faith

	Leader:	For all the work we do through the power of the Holy Spirit, 
			we praise God saying, yay God!
	Assembly: 	Yay God!
	
Leader:	God promises that when two or three are gathered in God’s name, 
			the Holy is present there.  On the winds of the Holy Spirit, 
			this meal and all of us who share it become the presence of God, 
			the Body of the Christ.  For this outpouring of the Spirit, 
			let us pray to God saying, come, Holy Spirit.
	Assembly: 	Come Holy Spirit!

	Leader: 	In the name of the One who creates, nourishes and sustains us, 
we pray.  
	Assembly: 	Amen.

Words of Institution
Leader		In solidarity with our sisters, brothers, 
and people of faith who are barred 	from ordination in many churches because of their sexual and gender 	identities and expressions, 
we will remember Jesus’ words and actions during that last supper 
in silence, meditating on them in the quiet of our hearts.  

These words or words like them can be printed in the bulletin 
or projected on a screen, but not be spoken.
On the night in which he was betrayed, 
Jesus gathered at table with his friends.  
He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying
This is my body, given for you; do this in remembrance of me. 
In the same way, after supper, he took the cup and gave it to them, saying
This is the new covenant in my blood, 
poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. 
Drink it, in remembrance of me.  
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this up
You proclaim the coming of the Holy One until God comes again. 

	Leader:	These are the gifts of God, for God’s beloved people, 
			the great big queer family of God, for each and every one of you.  
	Assembly: 	Thanks be to God!

	Communion Hymn	Come to the Banquet                     Sing! Prayer and Praise #8

	Sharing of Bread and Cup

	Prayer of Thanksgiving
Party-throwing God, 
who invites us to share in the banquet of your Love, 
we thank you for satisfying our deepest longings, 
with food, with community, with affirmation, with passion, with love.  
Keep us hungering for justice to ring out in all the world; 
keep us desiring you, 
seeking your face in our lovers and neighbors, friends and strangers, 
until the whole earth resounds with compassion and joy, 
and your new realm becomes real among us.  Amen.  

Hymn of Sending	We Are The Church Alive 										(http://www.resurrectionmcc.org/bulletins/20100829.pdf )
			or
				We Are Your People New Century Hymnal #309
			or
				Living the Life  Sing! Prayer and Praise #41
			
Benediction

Leader:	May God bless you and keep you.  
		May God’s handsome face wink at you from across the room, 
			inviting you to join the party.
		May God’s Spirit inspire you 
			to play in the midst of fear, 
			to laugh in the midst of hate,
			to dance in the midst of injustice,
		doing everything you do 
in the name of the queer Christ, 
with style and grace,
		until we turn the world upside down with love.  

Service for Gay Pride Celebration was written by the Rev. Dr. Sharon Fennema, Assistant Professor of Christian Worship, Director of Worship Life, and Director of the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion Program at the Pacific School of Religion.

Copyright 2018, Faith Formation Ministry Team, United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH  44115-1100.  Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.  All publishing rights reserved.  

Media Glossary prepared by GLAAD:     http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

Glossary of LGBT terms by UC Berkeley:
http://geneq.berkeley.edu/lgbt_resources_definiton_of_terms#zir

Glossary of Transgender terms prepared by Cincinnati Enquirer:
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/02/21/glossary-transgender-terms/22477735/