Kindred in Christ,

Inspired by his faith, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” He talked of how we encounter half the world by the time we put on clothes, brushed our teeth, drunk our coffee and eaten our breakfast, as there are people near and far that make our lives possible every single day.

As our country celebrates the secular holiday of Independence Day, it is important to remember God has created us to live interdependently with one another. No one is self-made or independent. Indeed, the more we reject the myth of independence, the greater awareness we can have regarding how our lives affect others. Moreover, we can pray and discern how to use our agency towards lifting others up as we receive from them in the midst of our network of mutuality (or interdependence)!

This week we wrap up our God is Proud of You worship series. We will reflect upon the many ways that our human identities can be affirmed in the context of Christian community. We will consider the life of a man that was made a social outcast and forced to remain outside the temple gates. Yet, God utilizes Peter and the connections of the early church to empower him to “rise up and go” make a difference to the religious status quo (Acts 3:1-10).

Looking forward to worshiping with you on Facebook Live!

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Marsha P. Johnson by Kelly Latimore

Kindred in Christ,

Happy Pride! This week we celebrate Pride Sunday as part of our God is Proud of You worship series! Pride Sunday is the Sunday nearest the anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. This is the historic event that gave birth to various gay rights organizations, Pride marches, and ignited the queer liberation movement in our country.

On June 28, 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in NYC. It was common for police to raid and arrest queer people at that time, as homosexuality and cross-dressing were considered illegal. Yet, this time the queer community had had enough. They did not submissively bow their heads and quietly go into the police wagons. But nor did they run away either. They fought back and stood their ground. That night and the nights to follow the people pushed the police out in what historians refer to as the Stonewall Uprising or the Stonewall Riots. One of the central figures in this uprising was a Black trans woman named Marsha P. Johnson (see icon above).

Marsha was nicked named the “Saint of Christopher Street” because of her compassionate presence in the streets of Greenwich Village over the many rejected and often-homeless members of the LGBTQIA+ community at that time. Marsha is quoted saying, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us!”

On the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, thousands of people participated in the first Gay Pride march in NYC. Historians say that the participants were so nervous that they practically ran the route. They were justifiably afraid of being attacked. Yet mostly smiles and cheers from the crowds met them instead.

Join us this Sunday as we explore what it means to stand in holy Pride and the movement toward greater liberation. I hope to see you on Facebook Live!

Alongside you,

Rev. Paul Ortiz

Happy Pride, Friends!

After being disillusioned with church for years, I returned to a new and creative expression of United Methodism in Chicago. One of the things that I loved about this faith community was that they, along with the rest of the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, marched in the Chicago Pride parade every summer! And marching with us was a 30ft tall, fabulous rainbow Jesus (see picture above). This was always a time of pure spiritual joy. We walked 4 miles giving high-fives to the crowds, handing out flyers, and holding signs that let people know that, “God is proud of you, just the way God made you!”

My three-year-old at the time began to refer to this yearly event as “the rainbow Jesus parade.” In her child mind she knew that this colorful celebration had something to do with the inclusive love of Jesus. I think she caught something that many churchgoers sadly miss, namely that the love of Jesus celebrates and affirms human diversity (including the spectrum of sexual and gender diversity). This is why pride is holy, because God wants us to be proud of whom we are created to be. God offers affirmation and liberation in the face of systemic forces that make it unsafe for all to be “out” or completely free.

Join us as we kick off our new series, God is Proud of You! We will explore the insights the LGBTQIA+ community offer faith and spirituality. And we will also lean deeper into the reality that our uniqueness reflects the Divine. See you on Facebook Live!

Alongside you,

-Rev. Paul Ortiz

Do you remember your graduation? It was likely an exciting yet scary time of moving into the unknown. A wilderness space of promise and perplexation. My 5^th grade child will soon graduate, and they wonder what middle school will be like. Maybe you remember graduating university or grad school and wondering if you’d be able to land a job in the career you studied for. Or perhaps you already had a job lined up when you graduated, but you wondered what it would be like to actually live into that vocation—after all, internships and practicums under mentors only go so far. Perhaps at your graduation, as you faced the edge of the cliff of the wilderness, you wondered, will I fly, or will I fall?

I imagine the disciples felt similar when they gathered one last time on a mountain to be sent out into the world by Jesus (Matthew 28:16-20). At this point, their three-year training with Jesus was complete. The time had come for them to be sent out to make a difference. Yet they are not sent alone. At the end of his commencement speech, Jesus assures them, “And know that I am with you always, even until the end of the world!”

What does it mean for the Spirit of Christ to be with us as we move into the unfamiliar spaces of our own lives? How does the awareness of Christ’s with-ness embolden us for risk taking action as a church? Join us this Sunday as we conclude our series, Lessons from the Wilderness and continue to move forward with one another. See you on FB Live!

-Rev. Paul Ortiz

Kindred in Christ,

Have you ever had your name changed?

Many of us, when we marry change our name. We sometimes take the last name of our partner, or we hyphen together both names. But names change for other reasons, too. Have you ever had your name changed?

Some people change their nickname as they grow older. When I was young, my Spanish-speaking grandmother called me Pablito (which means “little Paul”). Later when my daughter was two years old, she began referring to me as daddy Paul. And while I would have found that name silly before becoming a parent, it provided profound meaning to my unfolding identity as a parent. Have you ever had your name changed?

Growing up, I had a good friend who went by a female name, that was until they came out as gender non-binary, and then they changed their name to match their true gender. Have you ever had your name changed?

Name changes are important. They signify life changes. A dramatic event that will never leave us the same.

In the scriptures, Sarah and Abraham have their names changed by God (Gen 17:1-8, 15-19). Their names are changed as they step out in faith into the unknown. As we will explore on this Sunday, it is crucial for God to rename them in order for them to live deeper into the unfolding vision God has called them into. Join us as we continue in our series, Lessons from the Wilderness, and reflect on what it means to be renamed by God.

Alongside you,

-Rev. Paul Ortiz