Monday, March 14, 2011

Taking Communion at a LGBT Church

I'm back trading captions at Rachel's Haven, here's a couple of my first efforts.
I'm a little rusty, but it is fun, so why not - my therapist was down on internet stuff,
but then -well I'm just going to drop the whole Gender Therapy subject- what a joke -
 I'm going by the name Stacy Wilderness over at Rachel's this time around.

So I went to a predominately LGBT church on Sunday, and it was really interesting
(in a good way).  The service itself is pretty typical, but you look around and there
are a whole bunch of identifiable LGBT people in attendence.  That would include
some identifiable transgender people - that is something me and my therapist were
in total disagreement about -I think it's crucial if you go through all that -that in the
end you're able to pass as a women - I really wouldn't be comfortable living as
an identifiable transgender person, and if that meant losing 100 pounds or
whatever it took that's fine, but if I was identifiable transgender, there's no way
I'd go through with it, I'd just go out at night in drag -that's where the cross-dresser
diagnosis came from (not that I was cross dressing to obtain sexual arousal -which is
a cross dresser does, but that I was contemplating dressing as a woman and going out
publicly as a woman, either full time (if I could pass), or part-time in drag
(if I couldn't pass) -I still find the diagnosis bizarre -that and my therapist was
frustrated and wanted to call me a sissy, but couldn't -I know I said I'd drop the
Gender Therapy stuff - so that's the end of it, really).
so I am totally off topic now -Church - so yeh I actually made it to church, and I went
to an LGBT church this time, but I really thought it was a place were I sort of
fit in - I consider myself to be one of the least identifiable people there, but then
that's my opinion, and whether I'm identifiable or not is beside the point, because
I self-identify as LGBT, and this is a church that is accepting of me and my beliefs.

The Church practices an open communion  (open meaning anyone in attendance can
take communion).  At first I thought I'd just remain seated for this part of the service,
but I decided to participate - the service is based on an event at the Last Supper,
just before the death of Jesus, where Jesus gives his Apostles bread as His body
to eat, and wine (or unfermented  white juice of the grape -giggle -it is a LGBT service)
as His blood to drink  So this isn't something to take lightly, there is a lot of symbolism
in drinking Christ's blood.  But it seemed right at the time, and so I got up and took
communion.  I was glad I did - I think it gives me more of a connection to this church,
and I left feeling pretty good about the whole service, so yeh if you get a chance,
check it out. There are a few LGBT churches around, and I'm going to try and make
it a weekly thing - Sunday 10 am, I go to church.

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