Affirming Churches

Many churches say they are affirming but they don’t have any idea what it entails,

Caring is not enough: Reflections on transgender pastoral care
The Presbyterian Outlook
By Jill Duffield
November 15, 2018

“Caring is not enough.”

“Good intentions are not enough.”

Erin Swenson, a licensed counselor and transgender Presbyterian minister from Atlanta, told those gathered for her workshop: “Caring is not enough.” Pastors, chaplains and other faith leaders need to be prepared, equipped and willing to journey alongside transgender and gender non-conforming people and their families.

The “Beyond Pink and Blue: Transitions and Transgender Care” conference in Charlottesville, Virginia, kicked off on Sunday, October 21, in the wake of news out of Washington that President Trump planned to eliminate “transgender” and the rudimentary protections that went along with the category. Participants, presenters and the cloud of witnesses in the virtual cloud had no idea that the timing of the conference would resonate with culture so closely. No information, conversation or story felt theoretical; all seemed urgent and more a matter of life and death than ever. “A matter of life and death” is no hyperbole given the grim statistics — 41 percent attempt suicide (compared with 4.6 percent of the general public).

Caring is not enough. Nonetheless, caring should be a basic place to start. One of the hopes expressed by the conference planners was that space would be created where questions could be openly asked without fear of judgment. The goal was to move those caring people into a place of better understanding and have them leave with a toolbox of resources and contacts. A two-day conference does not create experts. It can, however, connect those who care with others who know more or who know those who know more. A two-day conference can offer light amidst the darkness and provide a more compassionate church chapter to too many stories filled with painful ones. A two-day conference can invite people into deeper conversations, initial relationships and a holy humility about what they do not yet know or understand. A two-day conference can lead participants to books, Bible passages, videos and websites that will enable them to care well and with wisdom.

This is great that they held this conference and it is a step in the right direction.

I hope that they also speak out against discrimination and the hate that there is out there. Being an ally and not speaking out to injustice and hate… well then you are not really an ally.