Estuary Space

06/13/2024

SIPA is providing an online weekly support group for adults (age 18+) who identify anywhere on the gender variant spectrum as Non-Binary Filipinx/a/o or BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color). This will be an OPEN GROUP. You are welcome to join as many sessions as you would like. There are 3 sessions total. Wellness activities are included, such as deep breathing, mindfulness, guided imagery, and progressive muscle relaxation. Gift cards are provided upon participation.

05/22/2024

Ten years ago, the Washington Post and a few news agencies approached me to interview me about my church’s becoming Third Way regarding LGBTQ inclusion. At the time, we refused the interviews because of the difficult process our church was going through. About a month ago, my new church celebrated the one-year anniversary of moving from Third Way to becoming fully affirming. Monica Hesse, a columnist with the Washington Post, asked if I was open to doing an interview now, and this time, I accepted. Here’s the article that she so thoughtfully wrote.

Ten years ago Danny Cortez gave a controversial sermon, and then the story really began.

03/15/2024

This year’s Parent Summit is online. If you know a parent of an LGBTQ child, please share this event!

02/13/2024

The 2022 US Trans Survey of 92,000 transgender adults finds continued discrimination, harassment and even violence at work

02/09/2024

Ten years ago today, I gave this sermon to my church on why I changed my mind on homosexuality. The interesting thing is that this wasn’t even the message I was planning on giving. My original message was disallowed by our elder board the night before so I put this one together last minute. I honestly thought I would be fired after this message, but the church split and 60 percent of us voted to become a third way church, allowing for pastors to officiate gay marriages while not taking a position of whether the church would be affirming or not.

Ten years ago today, I gave this sermon to my church on why I changed my mind on homosexuality. The interesting thing is that this wasn’t even the message I was planning on giving. My original message was disallowed by our elder board the night before so I put this one together last minute. I honestly thought I would be fired after this message, but the church split and 60 percent of us voted to become a third way church, allowing for pastors to officiate gay marriages while not taking a position of whether the church would be affirming or not.

Fast forward to January 2021 and I started a new position as co-pastor at Long Beach Christian Fellowship, a third way church. This time, I began to see the limitations and confusion that third way churches had. Our LGBTQ siblings voiced how the third way space was inequitable, how their identities were still on the table to be questioned and it was exhausting. So in April 2023, LBCF became fully affirming of LGBTQ people. It has become the church that I had wanted to see, a space that fully embraces the LGBTQ community which is allowing them to become fully integrated into the life of the church.

After ten years, there’s so much I continue to learn. But each step has opened my eyes to see how Jesus continued to challenge the traditional views of religious communities. As Helmut Thielicke said, “Only he who risks heresies can gain the truth.” Jesus had a way of risking for the sake of love that included the outsider which made him seem heretical. But Jesus showed us a way to read scripture that no longer causes harm but rather moves people towards abundance and flourishing.

After ten years, I look back at this pivotal sermon in my life that has allowed me to discover so much more the multi-faceted wisdom and love of God. I will forever be grateful.
Estuary Space

Sermon by Pastor Danny (Danilo) Cortez at New Heart Community Church, La Mirada, CA. This message was delivered on February 9, 2014. I started a non-profit c...