This is the second Storytelling Round Table from the “I Wonder…” series, put on by Invite Welcome Connect, a national initiative started in the Episcopal Church.
Some of the stories the church most needs to hear belong to LGBTQIA+ people and to the families who love them. We will discuss what happens when a congregation moves from being quietly welcoming to being clear, public, and joyful about who it is.
At the table: Sara Cunningham, founder of Free Mom Hugs, who describes the years after her son came out as a journey from the church to the Pride parade, and whose offer of free hugs at one Pride festival became a national nonprofit. Liz Dyer, founder of Mama Bears, who started a private Facebook group for about 150 mothers in 2014 and now leads a network of tens of thousands, and the subject of the documentary Mama Bears. John Pfannes, founder of the St. Thomas PRIDE Alliance, now more than forty LGBTQ+ people and allies working to make the welcome at his parish visible inside the church and beyond it. The Rev. Maddy Bishop, Priest-in-Charge at St. Andrew’s, Derby, Kansas, and the Episcopal Grasslands Eco-Region Fellow.
Thursday, September 17, 1:00 p.m. Eastern/noon Central/11:00 a.m. Mountain/10:00 a.m. Pacific, online by Zoom. Tickets are free, with a free-will donation welcome if you choose. Space is limited to keep this a real conversation, so reserve your seat early.
Register for Storytelling 2: LGBTQIA+ Voices
This is a conversation, not a lecture. Bring your curiosity, your experiences, and your questions.