Trencadís Foundation

01/21/2025

We stand with our migrant and LGBTQ+ siblings…. We recognize that everyone is created in the image of God….

The Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., implored newly inaugurated President Donald Trump on Tuesday "to have mercy upon" com...

01/05/2025

12/06/2024

“A mosaic consists of thousands of little stones. When we bring our faces close to the mosaic, we can admire the beauty of each stone. But as we step back from it, we can see that all these little stones reveal to us a beautiful picture, telling a story that none of these stones can tell by itself. That is what our life in community is about. Each of us is like a little stone, but together we reveal the face of God to the world.” - Henri Nouwen

10/30/2024

“I never knew it was bullying until I got to know the word too well. Then I learnt it was homophobic bullying because I was being teased and called “fish”, “faggot”, “battyman” and other degrading names. For half of my life I felt as though something was wrong with me. I thought maybe they were right for teasing me.” Elton is a man from . In high school he felt the strongest effects of bullying, but he overcame their prejudices and now advocates for rights of Jamaicans. “I would want to encourage others to never give up, be your best self and remain true to who you are. That bully might just be somebody lacking love and attention. Never let the fear of giving in let you give up.”
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This , we honor the resilience of people from the LGBTQ+ community who often face heightened risks of harassment, discrimination, and violence simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 🌈

Elton shared their story with the campaign, a platform for + stories of and . At the link in our profile you can read their full story and see how to share your own experience. Photo by Robin Hammond This is a Witness Change project. For more stories of survival, follow

Let's stand together against hate, promote acceptance, and create safe spaces for all. 💪🏽

10/26/2024

“Together we are like a mosaic. In a mosaic one stone is bright, another stone is gold, another stone is small. If we look at it closely we can admire the beauty of each stone, but if we step back from it, we can see that all the little stones reveal a beautiful picture and tell a story that none of the stones can tell by itself. Together the different stones reflect the face of God to the world”. Henri Nouwen

His words beautifully capture the essence of Trencadís Foundation - whose mission is to support/cultivate/foster communities unified in empathy and love that celebrate and uplift the unique dignity of God’s people.

We seek to alleviate injustices and inequities so that ALL humans can thrive.

We strive to collaborate with others to build bridges that offer pathways for people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to live in harmony with one another.

We are rooted in the artistic principle of Trencadís, guided by the core belief that the unique, intrinsic beauty bestowed on each of us forms a beautiful mosaic of vibrant light and life when bound together by Divine love.

Www.trencadisfoundation.org

The Trencadís Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations that seek to foster communities that illuminate and celebrate the beauty of God's diverse humanity. We focus on migrant and refugee resettlement, racial justice, and reconciliation between the Church and LGTBQ+ community.

10/01/2024

It seems to me that faith is first and foremost a matter of the heart.

09/16/2024

“Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong
to each other—that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister.”
MOTHER TERESA

Build a Reconciling Community:Be an Agent of Racial Healing Racial brokenness in the church pushes people away.Draw people in by demonstrating the power of the Gospelto bring reconciliation and racial healing. Learn More About Arrabon Arrabon is a spiritual formation ministry that equips the America...

09/14/2024

I am heartbroken by the inflammatory words and misinformation that is being spread about migrants who are simply trying to provide for a better life for them and their families…. a life safe from persecution, poverty, preventable death and crime.

In a recent interview, I heard a Vice Presidental candidate repeatedly use the term “illegal alien” and saying that migrants (in this case Haitians) are the cause for the rapid increase in disease in Springfield, Ohio.

Wherever you stand on the issue of our country’s immigration system, dehumanizing people for any reason fuels hatred not love.

What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.

09/03/2024

09/02/2024

We are not called to agree politically, nor theologically… we are called to love unconditionally.

08/31/2024

God of wisdom,

It’s hard to know what to say to a God claimed by those who have wounded us. Can we trust you? We have known what it is to exist in spiritual spaces that are more interested in controlling us than loving us. To have the room turn against us when our beliefs diverge from the group’s.

We thank you for giving us an interior compass, an intuition that no longer trusts spirituality that feels like captivity. Free us from those spaces. But as we depart, keep us from relinquishing our own connection to the divine. Help us to approach you slowly in the safety of our own interior worlds before granting another spiritual space access to us. And when we’re ready, guide us into new and safe communities—communities capable of holding our deepest doubts, our beliefs, the fullness of uncertainty, without being threatened. May we approach shrewdly and carefully, for our own protection, as we search for spaces that honor the whole of us.

INHALE: I am free to not know.
EXHALE: I can rest in mystery.
INHALE: I may not know what I believe,
EXHALE: but I know it will sound like dignity.
INHALE: My doubts are sacred.
EXHALE: God, stay close as I wander.

Cole Arthur Riley

08/01/2024

In our work in the area of Reconciliation between the Church and the LGBTQ+, we are engaged in many discussions with church leaders, LGBTQ+ individuals and their family members about the importance of creating a “safe space” in a church.

I love this definition of “safe space” from Jamar Tisby. He writes:

“The phrase “safe space” has often been maligned as a manifestation of this generation’s “snowflake” mentality. A sign that the modern therapeutic, woke culture can’t handle the slightest offense so they need to retreat to places they’ll be coddled and treated like the precious wimps they are.

That’s not what a safe space is.

A safe space is a community where you can reasonably assume that you will not be re-traumatized by the same injustices society heaps on you.

A safe space is an occasion and a gathering where you can let down your guard, take off your armor, and breathe again.”

Deb S Quinones and I have found that many church leaders have difficulty understanding how churches (including Christian laity) have inflicted (either intentionally or unintentionally) trauma on people who identify as LGBTQ+…. And therefore, struggle in understanding the importance of fostering safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals, many of whom so desperately what to belong to a faith community.