June is Pride Month, and as an Open and Affirming (ONA) church, we celebrate it not as a concession to culture but as a commitment to the Gospel. This is not the pride the Scriptures warn against; it is not arrogance or self-aggrandizement. It is the hard-won refusal to be ashamed of who God made us to be.
For decades, LGBTQ+ people were told by church and society alike that their lives were something to be hidden, corrected, or grieved. Pride festivals and parades rose up as a direct response to that message: We are here, we are beloved, and we will not disappear. That is not a secular sentiment dressed up in rainbow colors. That is resurrection language. That is the voice of every marginalized community in Scripture that dared to believe God was on their side.
As followers of Jesus, we have a long tradition of prophetic witness — people who looked at the powers that excluded and diminished, and said “not in God’s name.” Pride Month invites us to take our place in that tradition again. To celebrate the dignity of our LGBTQ+ siblings. To name the ongoing work of full inclusion — in our pews, in our laws, in our world — as sacred work. Justice is not a detour from the Gospel. It is the destination.
So, this June, we observe Pride not as a political statement but as a theological one. Every person is made in the image of God and claimed by a love that will not let them go. Pride is a gift to celebrate!
Grace, Mercy, & Peace,
Rev. Wendy