5 days ago
United Church calls on provincial government, 'while we worship together, trans bodies are being broken'
Clergy members donned rainbow vestments alongside their classic white collars Friday morning, as hundreds of United Church members gathered in downtown Calgary to issue a formal apology to the LBGTQ+ community.
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Members from all across Canada packed the pews, leaned on bannisters, and crowded upper balconies. A pride flag hung on a pole above the congregation.
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The apology, several years in the making, came in the form of a full church service. Leaders of the church spoke formally, sang their acceptance in call and response with the crowd, read from scripture in four different languages, and prayed for changes in the hearts of Alberta lawmakers.
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The formal apology was a segment of the United Church's General Council, an event inviting members of the church from across Canada to come together every three years. Commissioners from the 16 regional councils are brought to vote on important church matters: budgets, official stances on Palestine, and formal apologies like this one.
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United Church Moderator Rev. Carmen Lansdowne spoke the officially composed apology, one of her last acts in the position before a new moderator is elected this weekend.
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'We, the United Church of Canada, express our deepest apologies to all those, who have experienced homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia within the United Church of Canada,' Lansdowne said.
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'We are sorry,' replied the congregation, in unison.
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Lansdowne went on to describe overt examples of this discrimination, 'such as loss of income, harassment, being denied access to church leadership, and threats to personal safety.' She further made clear that complacency in the face of discrimination was just as relevant as those more explicit examples.
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The service was conducted in a variety of different languages, without pausing to translate back into one or the other. Sermons and speeches alternated between English and French. Two readings of scripture were spoken solely in Japanese. The last song of the service, titled Bambalela, alternated between English, French, and Zulu.
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One piece of scripture was read entirely though sign language, displayed to the crowd through a slideshow on televisions, while the room was otherwise quiet.
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The formal apology had been in progress for several years. United Church General Secretary Rev. Michael Blair said that the discussion first began in 2009. A decade later, a report 'indicated that a formal apology be made,' he said. 'In 2023, the general council committed to offering an apology to the 2S and LGBTQIA+ community.'
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After the composed apology, the service culminated with several prayers. The Lord's Prayer, prayers espousing heartbreak and sorrow 'for what we never had, and all that our lives and the church could have been,' and prayers directly aimed at the Alberta provincial government.
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'We pray for a healing and changing of hearts of those in power, who would enact laws here in Alberta to deny the gender affirming care, that puts trans youth at risk,' the speaker said.
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Last year, the Alberta government passed legislation that sought to ban doctors from providing treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to those under the age of 16 and enacted a total ban on gender-reassignment surgery for minors in the province.
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In June, an injunction was granted against the rule changes around health care in the province. On July 25, the government appealed that injunction.
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'We pray for freedom for school libraries and teachers to provide the books for children in their care without government interference,' they said. 'We pray for the freedom for trans girls to play the sport of their choice.
