4state Pride Faith Network

12/13/2025

"A Charlie Brown Christmas is simple and complex and subtle and obvious. Just as our faith ought to be. . . . Like A Charlie Brown Christmas, after decades, our faith should remain both familiar and as fresh as it was in the beginning. We must grow and learn as we explore our faith. We must strive to see new things with old eyes. We should work to be better and not remain who we have been. This is the promise of God. A promise that exists for all time, in full view. The Savior is right there, in front of us the whole time, and we don’t even see it."

See how "A Charlie Brown Christmas" shows us the Savior in a subtle and loving manner, right before our eyes, without us even noticing:

The Secret Symbol in a Charlie Brown Christmas

12/13/2025

🌪️ The Name We Refuse to Surrender

There’s a strange ache in watching a word you love become a weapon. “Christian”—once a name whispered in catacombs, sung in prison hymns, and etched into acts of radical love—now echoes in courtrooms and campaign slogans, often stripped of its soul. It’s like watching a garden overrun by concrete: the soil still remembers, but the surface denies it.

Faith, in its truest form, is not a brand—it’s a body. A living, breathing witness to love that breaks bread with enemies and weeps with the wounded. Scripture doesn’t call us to win arguments; it calls us to wash feet. Jesus never said, “They’ll know you by your theology,” but “by your love” (John 13:35). And yet, many today weaponize verses like swords, forgetting that the Word became flesh—not a weapon.

The metaphor is clear: Christianity is not a fortress to defend, but a table to extend. And if the table is missing Jesus—crucified, risen, radically loving—then it’s not Christianity at all.

Pastor Brandon is a prophetic voice reclaiming the name “Christian” from distortion. His work centers on love, justice, and the radical hospitality of Jesus.

Perhaps reclaiming Christianity isn’t about louder doctrine—but deeper resemblance.

🤟 Royce

11/21/2025

Send a message to learn more

11/20/2025

11/20/2025

Today, on Trans Day of Remembrance, we honor our trans and gender-expansive siblings whose lives were taken by hatred and violence, and we recommit to building a world where they can live and thrive as God created them to be. This year’s attacks on trans lives have intensified through anti-trans laws, censorship, and rising white-supremacist (not Christian) nationalism, even as some national LGBTQ+ groups withdraw from entire regions. But ONA churches will not back down. The Open and Affirming Coalition continues to show up—rooted in Christ’s inclusive love, supporting churches, coaching congregations, representing our movement at World Pride, hosting our National Gathering, and responding to the growing need for guidance and resources. And the need keeps growing. If you believe affirming trans lives is holy work, we invite you to help sustain it.

🌈 Join Faithful Resistance: The Sustainers Circle.
Help us reach our goal of $2,000 per month in reliable support so we can:
• Strengthen and expand our national network
• Increase staff capacity
• Support churches committed to LGBTQ+ affirmation
• Resource ministries where DEI funding has been slashed
• Keep ONA congregations shining as places of hope, safety, and belonging

Whether it’s $5, $10, $20, $50, or $100 a month, your steady support strengthens this movement and fuels the work of protecting and affirming LGBTQ+ people—especially our trans siblings who deserve nothing less than love, safety, dignity, and joy.

Together, we can build a resistance that will not back down.
Together, we declare: Affirming trans lives is holy work.

Join the Sustainers Circle today:
👉 https://openandaffirming.networkforgood.com/projects/264217-faithful-resistance-the-sustainers-circle

11/20/2025

📣 Join us TOMORROW!

🏳️‍⚧️ 🕯️Trans Day of Remembrance embodies our belief in the power of naming Trans beloveds we have lost to violence.

🏳️‍⚧️ 🕯️ In a world where division continues to be highlighted, the Church can offer a place of celebration & honoring God's uniqueness & gifts. We'll share space in remembering our trans siblings and celebrate the divine within them.

👉🏾 Register to join us LIVE: https://ow.ly/VuvH50XpUml

11/20/2025

11/20/2025

This is major! Earlier this week, the heads of 10 religious traditions issued a landmark statement proclaiming that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people are worthy of love, support, and protection.

They write: "During a time when our country is placing their lives under increasingly serious threat, there is a disgraceful misconception that all people of faith do not affirm the full spectrum of gender – a great many of us do. Let it be known instead that our beloveds are created in the image of God – Holy and whole."

The statement was signed by:

-The Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, President, Unitarian Universalist Association

-Barry Crossno, General Secretary, Friends General Conference

-The Rev. Elder Cecilia Eggleston, Moderator, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC)

-Presiding Prelate Yvette A. Flunder, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM)

-Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism

-The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk and Executive Director, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

-The Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada

-The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson, General Minister and President / CEO, United Church of Christ

-Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., President and CEO, Reconstructing Judaism

-The Episcopal Church

11/20/2025

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance we are remembering the saints whose lives and work were dedicated to the full inclusion and flourishing of the trans community.

"The Rev. Iain Michael was an active leader in the TransEpiscopal community for many years. He was part of advocacy efforts leading up to and at the 2012 General Convention at which “gender identity and expression” were added to the Episcopal Church’s nondiscrimination canons for access to the ordination process and all levels of leadership in the Church."

Learn more about the life and legacy of Rev. Iain here: https://bit.ly/4o9hs3k

11/20/2025

On November 20, the Rocky Mountain Synod joins faith communities worldwide in observing Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR)—naming those lost to anti-transgender violence and committing to safer, more welcoming communities. TDOR began in 1999 as a vigil remembering Rita Hester and has grown into a global witness of prayer, lament, and resolve.

At our 2025 Synod Assembly, voting members affirmed a resolution calling the RMS to more public witness and advocacy for LGBTQIA+ people—encouraging staff participation in inclusive services, reaffirming our commitments, providing resources to congregations, and advocating against laws that target LGBTQIA+ neighbors.

Grounded in ELCA social teaching, we affirm the God-given dignity of transgender and nonbinary siblings and support laws and practices that respect diverse bodies.

Supporting TDOR is one way we live this call—through prayer, presence at local vigils, and equipping congregations to be places of safety, belonging, and hope.

“God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people as we mourn the loss of the dead on this Transgender Day of Remembrance.”
Source: ReconcilingWorks' “A prayer for Transgender Day of Remembrance.”

11/20/2025

🙏🏾 Loving God who is They, She, Ze, He, and names waiting to be discovered,

May my life reflect Your radical, inclusive love—a love that knows no borders, embraces every child of God, and draws all nations, peoples, and communities into Your Kin-dom of justice, peace, and hope.

Amen.

-Reed Kirkman
McKinney, TX

👉🏾 Share your prayers with us: https://ow.ly/CboY50XqNbu