Trans-Nonbinary-Centered Worship Resources

#TransJustice #UCCMovement

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Invocation

Spirit of Love, draw us into your presence,
breathing in the truth of our belovedness.
You are beloved by God.
We are beloved by God.
Trans folx are beloved by God.
Nonbinary people are beloved by God.
Queer people are beloved by God.

[invite the gathered community to name other identities and groups that are “beloved by God”]

You are beloved by God.
We are beloved by God.
Spirit of Liberation, be our shield and defender,
holding us in the truth of our belovedness.  Amen. 

Call to Worship

Leader: The God of Transforming Love gathers us for worship, calling us to take pride in who we are as beloved ones of the Holy One

Assembly: We praise God, for we are queer-fully and wonderfully made!

Leader: If Pride is celebration,

Assembly: then let us celebrate the dignity and worth of trans lives and honor the flourishing of all lives. 

Leader: If Pride is resistance,

Assembly: then let us resist anti-trans political forces and work to transform all death-dealing policies and practices. 

Leader: If Pride is liberation,

Assembly: then let us create spaces where trans youth and adults can be free because here can be no pride for some of us without liberation for all of us. 

Leader: If Pride is sacred,

Assembly: then let us declare: trans folx are beloved by God, as are each and every one of us.

Leader: With dancing hearts, resilient spirits, and open minds, let us worship God.

Assembly: We praise God, for we are queer-fully and wonderfully made!

Prayer of Confession

Rainbow-Raising God, who flew all the colors across the sky as an emblem of the promise to sustain life for all creation, we confess that our openness and affirmation has often had limits.  For too long we have allowed PRIDE to be whitewashed, erasing the important dreams, visions and resistance of black trans femmes that forged a way forward for us all. Forgive our forgetfulness.  For too long we have celebrated PRIDE for some of us, but not all of us.  Forgive us when we use the rainbow flag to cover over the work we have yet to do to demonstrate your fierce love for trans folx.  Convict us with your grace, Transforming God, so that not one more anti-trans word will be spoken without our opposition.  Until trans justice comes, we pray as we would live.  Amen. 

Leader: Our Redeeming God celebrates the possibility of change. 

Assembly: God’s grace stretches over us all. 

Leader: We are forgiven and freed to co-create liberation for all God’s queerly beloved. 

Assembly: Praise God’s ever-expanding love. 

Prayer of Dedication

Leader: For the trans gifts of becoming more fully who we are, we thank you God,

Assembly: and we dedicate our offerings and ourselves to becoming better versions of your disciples.

Leader: For the nonbinary wisdom of radical resistance, we thank you God,

Assembly: and we dedicate our offerings and ourselves to rising up and refusing that which does not serve justice.

Leader: For the queer art of revolutionary hospitality, we thank you God,

Assembly: and we dedicate our offerings and ourselves to building a world where belovedness is everyone’s birthright.  Amen.

Charge

Our Pride cannot be satisfied with rainbow flags.

This Pride season, with the onslaught of policies and laws aimed at maligning and even criminalizing trans and nonbinary people and youth in particular, we are being called to connect with local organizers and get involved in supporting trans justice.

Our Pride cannot end with marches.

This Pride season, as ignorance-fueled hate takes aim at the civil and human rights of our trans kin, we are being called to take steps to educate ourselves, our families and our communities about trans lives and flourishing. 

Our Pride cannot stop when the dance party is over.

This Pride season, as political rhetoric and public statements create and reinforce a culture of anti-trans bullying, discrimination, and violence, we are being called to engage [or re-engage] the Open and Affirming (ONA) process to strengthen the welcome, inclusion, and justice experienced in our church and community.

Our Pride cannot stop, until God’s kindom comes. 

This Pride season, we are being called.  How will we respond?

Benediction

This blessing is trans
it is becoming Love more fully with each breath
it is transformation in action
it is embracing truths despite all that wishes to silence and erase it.

This blessing is trans
because trans is sacred
trans is holy
trans is Divine.

Go forth from this place,
cherishing this blessing
defending this blessing
sharing this blessing
because this blessing is trans
and trans means beloved by God.

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