Elevator Speech

At the heart of this Substack

Sometimes those around you are the ones who first recognize your “niche,” your “why,” and in this case, your “elevator speech.”

It came as a product of the community we still seek to cultivate on TikTok which we call BraveSpace. It is a TikTok live session where we cultivate a “brave” space for those who have been hurt by the church in the past… specifically, though not limited to those in the queer and trans communities.

I use “brave” space and not “safe” space intentionally, as I cannot guarantee that the space we hold together on that platform will be safe for those engaged. We tend to draw in a significant amount of those we lovingly call “trolls” who seek to cause harm with their words. And though I cannot ensure that they won’t arrive… I can, and do ensure that their behaviors are cut short thanks to TikTok’s mute and block options.

Perhaps I should take just a moment to identify myself in order for that which I am sharing to make a bit more sense. I am an ordained Christian pastor within the United Church of Christ denomination.

I also happen to be queer.

And it is that unique perspective that I bring to BraveSpace. As an openly queer Reverend, I bridge the divide that many who engage with me on that platform have been told is impossible to traverse. They have been told; “you cannot be queer and Christian.” And quite often told; “you cannot be queer,” because those who gatekeep their religion lack the ability to see the absolute breadth of God’s created beauty.

So… for those who have been told by Christians that they are not allowed to fully participate in the life of the church. For those who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual plus), the Christian church has long been a place where they have been met with more exclusion than embrace, more heartache than help, more withholding than welcome.

Which, if you know even just a hint about the one we Christians seek to follow, you can begin to see the problem here. Jesus’ life and teachings focused largely on a radical love. In his story it was radical love for those on the margins of his society… women, children, tax collectors, the sick and the dying. Jesus modeled a love for all!

And I feel that those of us who claim to follow Jesus and who seek to live his love and justice in the world… well, if we are shutting doors in the faces of the queer community, I think we are missing the point.

And that’s where my elevator speech comes in. In the midst of our BraveSpace experiences, I had been reciting the words that follow just enough times that those active in the community began noting its frequency and in a way, encouraged me to own it as my elevator speech.

So… here it is:

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I believe that Jesus began a movement, one that we have witnessed has the ability to bring about positive change in the world for all.

We, flawed human beings, created the institution and have boxed in that movement and now use it as a tool for control and oppression.

So we are now tasked, we are responsible for breaking that movement out of the box and releasing it back into the world.

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And that, my friends, is what I am about. That is what I devote my time, my ministry, my efforts to. And it is what I will dedicate this Substack to as well. I want to work at unpacking as many ideas as possible for how we might be able to break open the box that is the institutional church. And in doing so, I want to envision what it will be to release back into the world the movement which Jesus began.

It is a movement of love.

It is a movement of inclusion.

It is a movement of authenticity.

And it is a movement for which our world is waiting.

So let’s get to work. Let’s break wide open the institutional box. And let’s be part of creating a better world, a better life, a better experience for one and all.