Who are America’s Transgender Clergy?

on July 27, 2015

Transgender clergy now serve openly in several mainline and progressive Christian denominations. Churches that espouse traditional Christian theology have not allowed transgender persons to be clergy as they do not accept transgender identity as a Biblical expression of personhood. Several of the transgender clergy below caused disorder in their churches and denominations when they insisted on recognition. Several of them have left diminished or destroyed churches in their paths. Below are brief biographies of the openly transgender clergy serving in the United States today.
The Episcopal Church (approved transgender ordination at its 2012 General Convention)

The Reverend Carolyn Woodall is a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin, California. Formerly the Deputy Public Defender in Sonora, Woodall now has a small criminal defense practice in addition to serving as deacon for St. James Episcopal Church. Woodall serves as the Chair of the Stakeholders’ Council of Integrity USA, “the leading grassroots voice for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the Episcopal Church.”

The Reverend Vicki Gray is a deacon at Christ the Lord Episcopal Church in Pinole, California in the Episcopal Diocese of California. A Vietnam War combat veteran and retired Foreign Service Officer, Gray also serves on the Executive Council and Commission on Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Gray assists with Open Cathedral, an open-air weekly worship service takes place in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco that ministers to the poor and homeless.

The Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, functioning as the Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University and a lecturer and counselor at Harvard Divinity School. Partridge was the first transgender priest to preach at the Episcopal Church’s National Cathedral in Washington D.C., speaking during “Pride Month” 2014.

The Reverend Carla Robinson is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia. Robinson is the Director of Children and Youth Ministries at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Seattle. Before transitioning, Robinson was an ordained minister in the conservative Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. Previously, Robinson was the priest of All Saints Episcopal Church in Seattle, this church has seemingly ceased to exist as they no longer have a website and are no longer listed in the diocesan directory. Robinson then became a non-stipended priest at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle before moving on to the Church of the Ascension.

The Reverend Gwen Fry is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas. In 2014 Fry shocked his parish, Grace Episcopal Church, by identifying as a transgender person and was removed from his position by the Bishop of Arkansas, Larry Benfield. Fry is a Diocesan Coordinator for the aforementioned Integrity USA and is a member of TransEpiscopal, representing the group at the 2015 Episcopal General Convention in Salt Lake City. Fry was a panelist at a Wild Goose Festival 2015 session entitled “LGBTQ Lives: Hurt & Healing.”

The Reverend Christopher Fike is the Priest in Charge at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Wilmington in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts . Before transitioning, Fike was the Episcopal Chaplain at Tufts University, the Priest in Charge at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston, and the Interim Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University. The film To Cold Out There Without You details Fike’s experience.

The United Methodist Church (the denomination’s Book of Discipline does not address the issue of transgender clergy)

The Reverend Drew Phoenix, formerly pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church – a “primarily LGBT congregation” in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, now serves as the Executive Director of Indentity, whose mission is to advance Alaska’s LGBT community through advocacy, education and connectivity. Phoenix’ transition, while an ordained and active pastor, caused controversy at the 2007 Baltimore-Washington annual conference and at the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The Reverend David Weekley is the pastor of St. Nicholas United Methodist Church in Hull, Massachusetts. Weekley transitioned from female to male in 1975, seven years before becoming an ordained UMC minister; he did not reveal this transition until 2009 while pastor at historic Epworth United Methodist Church in Portland. While that church, begun as a mission in 1890, had 220 members in 2011, it has now shrunk to 30 members according to the UMC website. One hopes that St. Nicholas will not suffer the same fate.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) implicitly recognized transgender persons in 2009 in their social statement on human sexuality.

The Reverend Asher O’Callaghan became the first regularly ordained transgender minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America on July 2, 2015. O’Callaghan was called to serve at Zion Lutheran Church in Idaho Springs, Colorado in the Rocky Mountain Synod. He was ordained at the House for All Sinners and Saints and ELCA church where celebrity pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber ministers.

The Reverend Megan Rohrer is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in the San Francisco Conference of the ELCA. Rohrer is also the Executive Director of Welcome, “a communal response to poverty.” Rohrer also serves as Associate Pastor at St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church and is overseen by both Lutheran and Episcopal bishops. Rohrer’s passions include creating services from popular music including a “Beatles Mass,” a “Bob Dylan Folk Mass,” and a “Lady Gaga Mass.” Because the ELCA did not ordain transgender persons before 2009, Rohrer was ordained by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, an ordination mill for LGBTQ persons denied ordination by the ECLA. Their ordinations have now been recognized by the ELCA.

The Reverend Jay Wilson was also ordained by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries at First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco, an ELCA congregation. He was ordained to the aforementioned Welcome ministry and also led First United’s Children’s Ministry. According to his Linkedin profile he was only at the church for a year and a half before becoming a Data Management Specialist at MinnesotaHelp.Info and then an Access Consultant at the University of Minnesota’s Disability Resource Center.

Nicole Garcia is an ordination candidate in the ELCA’s Rocky Mountain Synod, and serves as a seminarian at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Boulder Colorado. Garcia is now vice chair of the board of directors of ReconcilingWorks: Lutherans for Full Participation. Huffington Post reports “Garcia still wonders if a congregation will accept her as a minister just as she is. ‘How can I feel comfortable as a Latina with dark skin in a denomination where inevitably at least 90 percent of the congregants in any ELCA church will be white?’”

The United Church of Christ (UCC)

The Reverend Lawrence T. Richardson is the founding pastor of Shift UCC an “out of the box ministry for out of the box people” in St. Paul, Minnesota. Richardson is also the founder and CEO of Stand-To-Urinate, a transgender supplies company (no website could be found). Additionally, Richardson is a social media strategist for The Center for Progressive Renewal, a writer for The Salt Collective, and a “digital evangelist” for Extravagance United Church of Christ, “an online faith community.”

The Reverend Malcolm Himschoot serves as the Minister for Ministerial Transitions at the UCC headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. His previous stints include three months as Interim Pastor at Community UCC in Boulder, CO, fives months as adjunct professor at The Iliff School of Theology, fourteen months as pastor of Parker UCC in Parker, CO, four months as Interim Sabbatical Minister at Arvada UCC in Arvada, CO. Himschoot has also worked on the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns, serving as Interim Open and Affirming Program Coordinator and as the Open and Affirming director for the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UCC.

The Reverend Rebecca Steen is the pastor of First Congregational Chuch UCC in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Steen had been a longtime minister in the United Methodist Church’s Baltimore-Washington Conference prior to transitioning in 2000. Because the UMC had no policy on transgender clergy, Steen was reappointed after a medical leave of absence, causing significant controversy in the conference. Charges were filed against Steen by members of the conference, and Steen resigned ministerial credentials in the UMC. Steen then transitioned into the more accepting United Church of Christ.

The Reverend Pat Conover is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Conover served with the Justice and Witness Ministries of the UCC. Conover also worked as Information Officer of Church and Society and as Policy Advocate for the Poverty Affairs Office. Conover is a member of Religious Committee International Foundation for Gender Education, the oldest international committee addressing concerns of transgender education.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Reverend Dr. Erin K. Swenson, is a parish associate at Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church in Atlanta and pastoral psychotherapist at Morningside Presbyterian Church. Swenson serves the board of More Light Presbyterians an organization devoted to the full participation of LGBT people of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Transitioning in 1996, Swenson was “first known mainstream Protestant minister to make an open gender transition while remaining in ordained office.”

The Reverend Dr. Julie Nemecek is an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Jackson, MI chairing the Discipleship Ministry Team. Nemecek was ordained a Baptist minster and served in several churches before transitioning. After transitioning, Nemecek was terminated from Spring Arbor University, a Free Methodist affiliated school, and filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. They eventually agreed on a settlement. Nemecek has served on the national boards of Soulforce and PFLAG and currently serves on the advisory board of Trans Youth Family Allies (TYFA) and is an honorary board member of Inclusive Justice Michigan.

The American Baptist Convention

The Reverend Allyson Robinson served as transitions pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., an American Baptist Convention church. After a career as an Army officer (and a graduate of West Point), Robinson pursued the ministry and was ordained while still identifying as a man. Robinson served at Azorean Baptist Church in Portugal and as pastor of Meadow Oaks Baptist Church in Temple, Texas. After transitioning, Robinson resigned the pastorate of Meadow Oaks and began working as a LGBT activist for the Human Rights Campaign. In 2012 Robinson served as Executive Director of OutServe-SLDN whose mission is to “to empower, support, and defend our military’s LGBT community while working to build a culture of inclusion in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs.” Robinson now works at Warrior Poet Strategies, whose mission is to “to help leaders and the organizations they lead discover, refine, communicate, and live into their values.”

The Metropolitan Community Church

The Reverend Sky Anderson served as pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Jose; this church has now closed its doors. Anderson was ordained by the MCC at its General Conference in 1979 after having openly transitioned.

The Reverend Aaron L. Miller serves as the pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Hartford, CT. Miller had previously served as the Associate Minister for Pastoral Care at Metropolitan Community Church in New Haven, CT. Miller serves on the MCC Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council “Trans/Gender Nonconforming People.” Miller is also chaplain at Yale New Haven Hospital, serves on the Board of Directors for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice CT, is a member of the Connecticut Clergy for Full Equality (an interfaith collaboration of progressive faith leaders throughout the state).

The Reverend Justin Tanis is the Managing Director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at the Pacific School of Religion. Tanis has served as the interim pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Boston, pastor of Ke Anuenue O Ke Aloha (Rainbow of Love) MCC in Honolulu, and associate pastor of MCC San Francisco. Tanis then served as Director of Leadership Development for Metropolitan Community Churches. Tanis has a long history of LGBT activism including working with ACT-UP and Queer Nation, serving as spokesperson and media coordinator for the Hawai’i Equal Rights Marriage Project, serving as the Community Education and Outreach Manager at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), and serving the Director of Communication for Out & Equal Workplace Advocates.

  1. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 27, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    These people are liars (pretending to be the opposite gender) and mockers of God. They shouldn’t even be members, let alone leaders.

  2. Comment by TEAchR'76 on July 27, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Reminds me of the song, “Oh, yes, I’m the great pretender”. Those who are the youth “misleaders” are the worst of the lot, leading the young astray with their make-believe.

  3. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 27, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    Yep. Something about millstones comes to mind.

  4. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Liars?? Really?? And you know this how?? Are you God??

  5. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 28, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    If you have XY chromosomes and claim to be a woman, you’re not telling the truth. This is not complicated. And you make Jesus out to be a liar because He was very clear about how they were created male and female.

  6. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 5:14 pm

    It would be nice if all this was uncomplicated, but God’s world is quite complex…

    Being a woman does not depend on one’s chromosomes. There are several biological determinants of sex in humans (most other animals), and each of these exist along a continuum and they include. Karotype, endocrine, inner genitalia, outer genitalia.

    There are in fact XY women (Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome) and XX men (Congenital Androgen Hyperplasia ). There are dozens of ways humans can be intersex and the milder forms are as common as twins.

    Re male and female: I assume you are referring to the Genesis account? It is written “male AND female,” not “:male OR female.” If it was written the later way, that allows for only two forms of humans. If the former, than two forms are indicated but others may exist: which is precisely what we see.

  7. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 28, 2015 at 5:18 pm

    Exceptions make bad rules. Are you saying that Bruce Jenner has XY chromosomes?

    I’m going to stick with Jesus on this one. Note how Jesus defeats Darwinian evolution, oxymoronic “same-sex marriage,” same-sex parenting and transgenderism arguments in one simple passage. No true follower of him should disagree on any of those topics.

    Matthew 19:4–5 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

    Jesus is still asking them that question today, and the answer from the “Christian” Left is, “No, we haven’t read that” — or, rather, “We read that but didn’t like it so we ‘know’ you didn’t really say that.”

  8. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    “Exceptions make bad rules” – life is what it is. It’s complicated!! For certain things, rules make sense: generally speaking we can divide humans into male and female, but that does not tell the whole story, both of “ordinary” humans and those who differ. Rules can both help and hinder our understanding of things around us.

    Re Jenner: I don’t know Jenner’s karotype, but since Jenner is a biological father, I highly suspect that there is a Y chromosome somewhere in that body.

    Re Jesus: Um sorry, I can’t see how Jesus “defeats Darwinian logic.” AND I’m not saying anything about “Darwinian logic” I’m telling you we have discovered of God’s universe. The same logic you seem to have an issue is the same logic that will help save your life if you need a heart-bypass surgery or any of a myriad of human medical issues.

    Re Jesus in Matthew: with due respect, Jesus was refuting people who were trying to trap him in a contradiction; Jesus was not trying to explain biology for us. Assuming He was is a stretch that flies in the face of demonstrable reality.

    There are lots of ways to interpret scripture. And the fact is, *everyone* does this. Only God is to say whether a conservative or liberal (or other) interpretation is correct. A Christian’s responsibility is to take these things to God and listen to God’s Spirit within them for guidance and application. This has worked well for me in my Christian walk:

    Abandon yourself to God (who has your back) and when in doubt, do the kind thing.

  9. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 28, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    Jenner is a still a male, despite his delusions and attention-seeking.

    God couldn’t have been more clear in all of the Bible about marriage, gender, etc.
    “Abandon yourself to God (who has your back) and when in doubt, do the kind thing.”
    That’s funny, you just got through saying we can’t be sure what the Bible says then you tell us about our responsibilities as Christians and how we should act. But by YOUR words we have no certainty in that.

    In my experience those who “listen to God’s spirit within them for guidance” end up creating a god in their own image. Just read his word carefully.

  10. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 6:18 pm

    Re Jenner is still a male: possibly in sex (possibly not), but nobody but Jenner can say what Jenner’s gender is. We’re not God, and a nether a penis nor a vagia, nor an X or Y chromosome makes one a man or woman.

    What you say about God’s “clarity” in the Bible speaks only to *your* interpretation. Mine is different, and I come by it through honest and prayerful study and communion with God.

    I worship God, not the Bible, and the Bible points to Jesus. I think it is fair to say that Jesus is not very concerned about our sex or gender. Jesus is concerned about how we love God, namely though how we love others. That’s the take-away from the scriptures.

  11. Comment by Eternity Matters on July 28, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    “nobody but Jenner can say what Jenners gender is.”

    You are incapable of clear thought and adult conversations.

    Something for you to meditate on that might help you think more carefully on this: If an anorexic person insisted she was overweight even though every medical fact indicated otherwise, would it be hateful to tell her she wasn’t fat? Would it be loving to encourage her desire to lose more weight? Using your logic, only the anorexic can say whether she is really fat or thin. Medical facts don’t matter.

  12. Comment by TampaZeke on July 28, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    There are two sexes:
    1. male
    2. female
    A male who believes he is a female is psychotic.
    A woman who believes she is a male is psychotic.
    A person who denies reality is psychotic. Mental health requires being grounded in reality, not in delusions. Forcing other people to play along with their delusions is just plain evil and manipulative. Insane people should be encouraged to become sane.

  13. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    With due respect, you you have a child’s understanding of human biology. Please do a little research before making such comments.

    The consensus among mental health professionals is that being transgender is not neither a delusion nor psychosis; it is neither a disturbance, nor illness: it is just a difference. This is quite easily verifiable.

    Just for the record, *I am* certified sane. Very few people in the world are so certified. I had to go through the psychological evaluation and therapeutic process before I was qualified to undergo my gender confirming surgery.

  14. Comment by parquee_hundido on July 28, 2015 at 5:14 pm

    I wonder why “professionals” would encourage people to consider themselves the wrong sex?

    Could it be that…. they make a big pile of MONEY from it?
    There’s no money to be made from normal people, is there? But a TON from Bob who thinks he’s a woman – aside from the medical stuff, poor Bob will require “counseling” the rest of his life.

    Are you getting the picture? There are slimeballs out there making megabucks off of confused and unhappy people. That is EVIL!

  15. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 5:15 pm

    Possibly if we were talking about a small hand full of cases, but with many thousands of cases, and many tens of thousands of professional reputations on the line, I suspect that your hypothesis is incorrect.

  16. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 5:26 pm

    Oh, for the record, I am not “confused” about my sex. My body’s sex is actually mixed. But I am especially not confused where my gender is concerned. Sex and gender are not the same thing. My body may be a mix of male and female, but my brain’s “inner calibration” (if you will) is clearly female and it’s always been that way – it’s hardwired and cannot be changed…

    ,,,Hormones are extraordinarily powerful: our chromosomes only “kick-off” the initial squirt of hormones early in our prenatal development. Humans are female by default, and it is the presence of testosterone as a signalling substance that actually makes a male person. If testosterone is suppressed, overridden or ignored (any or all of which can happen), then the XY baby remains female to a greater or lesser degree. In my case, testosterone was overridden after my genitalia developed, but before my brain rewired. Also my endocrine system works and responds more like an XX person’s. It’s complicated.

  17. Comment by Thelastdon on July 29, 2015 at 2:38 am

    With all due respect you are the one that needs a lesson in biology.

    It’s the chromosomes, it’s all about the chromosomes.

    – You can chop your genitalia up all you want.

    – Put on as much make up as you can.

    – Take as many hormone pills as you want.

    – Etc., etc., etc.

    But you can’t alter the 100 million body cells that determine our sex.

    The only way to change your sex is in your mind and that is a delusion.

    Shame on anyone, especially a Christian, who affirms this latest cultural lie.

  18. Comment by The Bodacious Professor on August 6, 2015 at 12:08 am

    As you well know, there are many thousands of persons born androgynous; they are physically of both sexes. The attending physician (with or without the knowledge of the parents) performs an operation, removing the undesirable sexual characteristics. Your assertions cover 99% of people; but what of the 1 % it does not?

  19. Comment by MarcoPolo on July 28, 2015 at 8:33 am

    Thanks for compiling (at least a short) list of dedicated Religious Leaders who continue to witness to ALL people of Faith. Well, except maybe for the few parishioners who think LGBT people don’t need religious representation.

    Notice how each person on this list is continuing to work diligently to serve Humanity in need? Quite admirable!
    Namaste’

  20. Comment by Brad F on July 28, 2015 at 9:00 am

    Bull.
    You think having one’s body mutilated makes a person a “dedicated religious leader”? No, it makes them self-absorbed neurotics – not exactly the makings of dedicated religious leaders. They crave attention, they have no time for God, they are too wrapped up in themselves.

    If you think they are so dedicated, get back with us on the churches they serve – see how those churches thrive and grow. “Oooh, we got a transgender pastor, now our church will really draw people!” Sure it will…

  21. Comment by MarcoPolo on July 28, 2015 at 10:16 am

    You are confusing those who are dedicated servers of God’s love with those few who are seeking prideful noteriety. Of which can be found among both heterosexuals AND homosexuals.
    “Confuse not your blessings with your curses.”

    Namaste

  22. Comment by Brad F on August 3, 2015 at 8:57 pm

    How could you possibly know they are dedicated? You’re not even a Christian, so you sure as heck have no business determining who is a good pastor and who isn’t. Judging purely from numbers, trannies and homosexuals are very BAD pastors.

  23. Comment by MarcoPolo on August 3, 2015 at 9:16 pm

    We’d all benefit from seeing those metrics?
    Perhaps you’ll present them?

    And how do you interpret dedication?

  24. Comment by MarianP on June 10, 2019 at 1:15 am

    If you’re socalled concerned with said body mutilation. Just remember a fair number of early Christians who also helped compile doctrine. In your words mutilated themselves by castration. That includes Origen. Matthew 19:12 doesn’t have a problem with it!

  25. Comment by Thelastdon on July 29, 2015 at 2:48 am

    The Bible states that all of our righteous works and acts are nothing but dirty rags to God. He’s not as nearly concerned about our works as He is with our faith.

    True faith is to believe Him and His revelation to us, the Bible (PERIOD). Your righteous works will never get you into heaven.

  26. Comment by MarcoPolo on July 29, 2015 at 7:59 am

    You might forget that many are not Christian, and then there’s the fact that I’m content to do as much good while living, since I don’t believe in Heaven.
    That’s like hoping to get invited to the “After Party”!
    Live NOW! Do Good Today! You only live once, and you won’t come out of this alive!
    Peace!

  27. Comment by Thelastdon on August 8, 2015 at 5:48 am

    “Says You” Look up at the blue sky, look all around you and how beautiful this world is, look at the ocean and the fish, go hiking and see some wildlife. How can anyone think that there isn’t intelligent behind all of this creation. Do you have any understanding how complex a butterfly’s life is?

  28. Comment by MarcoPolo on August 8, 2015 at 8:57 am

    Actually, you’ve just described my “religion”… Nature! And if one were to “follow” your description, they would be called Pantheists, which I believe to be more palpable than a “Heavenly” placed “God”.
    Hence, God is in EVERYTHING!

    I’m not discounting your view of all the wondrous living things on our cherished planet. I’m endorsing it! But that doesn’t directly point to a “Creator”.

  29. Comment by Thelastdon on August 10, 2015 at 6:13 am

    God created and designed all creation. He also lives within us who have answered the knock on the door of the heart.

  30. Comment by MarcoPolo on August 10, 2015 at 7:37 am

    Call “It” whatever you like… Life is wonderful though, isn’t it?

  31. Comment by Julie Chovanes on July 28, 2015 at 8:35 am

    Hmmm…the Bible begins with God making us in His Image, male and female, not male or female and ends with Paul saying in heaven there is no male or female. Jesus said some eunuchs are born and some are made — for His Glory. The Psalmist sang He has made us fearfully and wonderfully. None of us know the workings of the mind of God. That is the message of Job, and of Isaiah 55:8: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” The persecutors of the transgendered are really the small minded, the doorkeepers, the ones of whom God said begone, you lay burdens on the people but lift not a finger to help them. And I don’t think, I know, as much as I know anything, Jesus would welcome me with open arms, as one of the persecuted and as one of his sisters, doing His Work in this world.

    And the offensive certainty that a trans person’s moral legitimacy is corrupted — without knowing what they do — ignores God’s Teachings too (Mark 9:38-41):

    And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

    None of us can judge, that is for God alone, and all we can do is act in Love — the Greatest Commandment.

  32. Comment by Brad F on July 28, 2015 at 8:58 am

    WHO, pray tell, is “persecuting” the trannies? Apparently expressing out opinions on a blog – which, last time I checked, is a Constitutional right – is regarded as “persecution.” I doubt that people who have been murdered or shot at would define “persecution” as “someone in the internet said mean things.” Would you like for America to have Thought Police, who would surf the web, find people who said negative things about trannies, and slap us with a fine or throw us in prison?

    Every post on every blog by a tranny amounts to the same thing: baiting conservatives, hoping to elicit some negative response, then screaming “Persecution!” Hey, is anyone forcing them to post on conservative blogs? For that matter, did anyone force them to make a radical life change? As far as I can tell, the only “persecution” going on is that they love attention, but they can’t handle it when all the attention is not wholehearted approval. What did they expect? I mean, the suicide rate is high for these people – so were they deluded enough to think it would be a bed of roses?

    Sorry, but as a Christian I can show compassion toward someone who burns his finger on the hot stove, but not someone who deliberately burns himself then screams “That hurts!” “People don’t accept me as a tranny!” – hey, you made that choice, didn’t you?

  33. Comment by Nonbeliever on July 28, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    Brad F, these days its persecution if you do not open your arms and embrace what this miniscule minority feels and believes. All the while, they are, thru school books, media, academia, etc…, screaming at your children their beliefs. They and their leaders, primarily male homosexuals, (the majority of trans claiming humans were born male) represent a much smaller number than many non-mainstream religions. There are about as many Druid/Wickens as brainwashed trans humans in the US. I am fortunate in that I don’t believe in any religion, neither yours or theirs, so I don’t even have to fake caring about this little cult of mental defects. If you look at their history, most started as male homosexuals. Their early leaders were the likes of Alfred Kinsey and Dr. Money, a couple of pedophiles and homos. I take no issue with Druids/Wickens since they aren’t running around screaming at me to embrace them and accept them, but this group of trans humans seem to be attention starved and desperate to grow their numbers.

  34. Comment by Brettany Renée Blatchley on July 28, 2015 at 4:44 pm

    Who? Is persecuting “trannies” (which is a *slur* by the way)…

    …Well, I’ve been excommunicated three times from Evangelical congregations when I revealed that I am a married Christian woman of transgender experience. I well understand the “compassion” of some Christians.

    People don’t chose to be transgender anymore than people choose to be of a certain race or choose the color of their eyes.

    The consensus among medical researchers is that there is a biological basis for transgender people – most likely endocrine disruption in utero. In my case, I am (presumably) XY, but when it was time for my brain to re-wire from female into male form at the urging of testosterone, it didn’t happen because my mother was prescribed DES {diethylstilbestrol}, and I was flooded with extremely potent estrogen instead. So:

    I am a transgender woman. For me that means that part of my body are male, parts of my body are female, and the rest of my body is in the overlap between the sexes. Who I am as a person, my gender identity, is as it always has been: essentially female. Once I lived as a special sort of man, and now by God’s grace I live as a special sort of woman.

    God and I have worked through this together for some years, and to my surprise, Christ has chosen to bring healing to me through the scandal of my gender affirmation. Why? At least part of the reason is so that His power and grace could be demonstrated in my life. (see John 9)

  35. Comment by parquee_hundido on July 28, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    That’s interesting.

  36. Comment by gary on July 29, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    you meant disgusting didn’t you

  37. Comment by John Petty on July 28, 2015 at 1:43 pm

    Just not that ye be not judged.

  38. Comment by Straight Shooter on July 28, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    Right, just not.

  39. Comment by Jason P Taggart on July 29, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Let’s see, these denominations are losing members by the thousands, but they’re scurrying around trying to make a tiny percentage of the American population feel welcome. Call me silly, but I think their priorities are not right. I think the growing churches in Africa and Asia are doing it right – you’re a sinner, you need saving from your sins, God wants to save you – it’s a message for ALL people. Niche-marketing Christianity is not right.

  40. Comment by Jennell Jaquays on July 29, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    The notion, that transgender pastors “have left diminished or destroyed churches in their paths.” is one of the more laughable statements here. Who destroyed those churches? The pastors? They were likely driven out by congregations steeped in dogma and doctrine, not the love of Christ. It’s hard to build a loving church when it’s members can get past their own blindness and fear of difference or change.

    I know two of the pastors mentioned in real life, as friends. Each of them, like so many other transgender people came to the point of choosing a changed life over physical death. Each of them found that their god still loved them, and that they were not separated from god because they chose life over death (a death that some Christians wish on transgender people). The separation was forced on them by others, calling themselves followers of Christ but wrapping themselves in doctrine and dogma or worship of a book, rather than the love of their savior. I have many friends who still believe, despite being others of their faith denying them and persecuting them.

  41. Comment by Melissa Windom on July 30, 2015 at 10:35 am

    I have never known any Christian wish death on transgendered people, so your post is libelous. As with all people who are mentally and emotionally disturbed, we wish for their mental and spiritual healing. To center one’s life around a delusion is not Christian, we don’t find inner peace by turning in on our selves but by turning outward to God and neighbor. We were told by Jesus not just to be righteous but to be wise also, and common sense dictates that we see the transgendered as what they are – absorbed in their own emotions, unaccepting of themselves as God made them. How can anyone claim to have a relationship with God if they accuse God of making a mistaken? The churches that pander to homosexuals and transgendered have been in decline for many years, as the article states. This decline will probably worsen as these churches continue to discard Christians beliefs and ethical teaching.

    There is no persecution of transgendered by Christians. That is another delusion.

  42. Comment by Jennell Jaquays on July 31, 2015 at 2:38 am

    All I’m hearing from you is that you are not transgender, that you have no clue what it is means to be transgender, that you have no idea about the medical condition of gender dysphoria. And that you have little or no actual interaction with transgender people. Otherwise you have heard their stories of being rejected by family and driven out of homes, or subjected to physical violence for not conforming to gender expectations. You wouldn’t have heard the stories told by transwomen of relatives who wished they had just died rather than be transgender. Had you actually known transgender people, you might understand that the Southern Baptist Convention’s recent decision to reject transgender identity because it is somehow sinful, and that it would be better to die than fall into sin, is essentially a death sentence for many transgender children who come from Baptist homes (57% of children forced onto the street for being transgender will attempt suicide … many will succeed).
    Being transgender is not some sort of sin, it’s simply a different understanding of self.
    Being transgender is not a mental illness, nor does it have anything to do with being disturbed. It is one of many related medical conditions involving mismatched development of the mind/nervous system and the body. There’s science and research behind gender identity, not stretching the interpretation of bits of scripture to support fear and bias.
    If god knew people in the womb as scripture implies, then she also knew that the child would be transgender. They are as god made them, which is simply different than 99.7% of the rest of humanity. Considering that god lets babies be born with birth defects, genetic illnesses, and all manner of things that make them not quite “perfect”, how is being born transgender any different? It’s a condition that needs treating. The process of transition, pure and simple, IS that healing for transgender people. Denying something like that is akin to saying god doesn’t want cancer patients to be treated, or children with physical birth defects to be helped with surgery, because god put that cancer in them, gave them that defect.
    Your notion of turning outward to god and neighbor seems at odds with actually helping your neighbor. I’m fairly sure that scripture records nothing about Christ saying don’t love your gay or transgender neighbor, but rejecting who they are is NOT an act of love.
    As far as the decline of Christian churches goes … that can’t happen soon enough. The good being done by those who actually love and help others in the name of god is being overshadowed by those who put doctrine, dogma, and idol-worship of words in a book ahead of actually understanding those words and living them.

    In the USA, the primary source of persecution of transgender and gay people is rooted in the Christian faith, perpetuated by church leaders who make trans and gay people out to be the current enemy du jour of the church, who must be defeated, else Western Civilization fall into ruin (not too long ago, Dungeons & Dragons, Rock & Roll, and even people of color marrying white folk had that honor).

  43. Comment by Namyriah on July 31, 2015 at 11:49 am

    Is that the best you can do – “You’re not a transgender, so your opinion doesn’t count”? By that logic, we couldn’t pass judgment on anyone – murderers, arsonists, pedophiles people guilty of animal cruelty, no one.

    Btw, unless you’re Southern Baptist, why do their decisions concern you? We have hundreds of denominations in America, people can pick one that suits their ideology. I think the rule about priests not marrying is very silly, but since I’m not RC I don’t go sharing my opinions with RCs because what they do is really none of my business.

  44. Comment by Jennell Jaquays on July 31, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    I care about the people whose lives are made miserable or even ended prematurely by the misfortune of being born into families who put ideologies ahead of unconditionally loving their families.
    It’s not that you are not transgender, it’s that you don’t appear to have made an effort to know anyone is, or even care about their fate. Equating a medical condition with murder, arson, pedophilia, or animal cruelty seems to confirm that.

  45. Comment by Namyriah on August 1, 2015 at 9:35 am

    You could’ve just edited your comment to “I care.” That’s what leftism is – anyone who agrees with you is a compassionate person, anyone who does not agree is an evil ideologue.

    I do see the attraction of liberalism, it makes the world so simple – you are good, people who think differently are bad. So simple to grasp.

  46. Comment by Jennell Jaquays on August 1, 2015 at 11:33 pm

    It’s not necessarily having the ideology that’s “evil,” but rather using it to guide one’s actions in ways that harm others. The most effective villains in history have been those who did what they did believing that their actions were right and just.

    Leftism, liberalism … sure, I’ll own those. They gave me back my soul as my viewpoints shifted that way after I finally recognized that conservatism had taken it away from me.

    But there is one important “ism” you left out … “elitism.” You OWN that one.

  47. Comment by Namyriah on August 2, 2015 at 10:05 am

    You’re still making accusations with nothing to back them up. How are conservatives “harming” these people? You said we’re committing “actions” that harm others. How? By posting on a blog? Conservative Christians are constantly being accused of “harm,” but no one ever gets specific. If you can find any links where pastors are urging their congregations to go out and assault trannies, please post them.

    What is “elitist” about not wanting people to chop up their bodies or walk around believing they are the wrong sex? I think that’s just ordinary decency.

    Sorry you feel conservatism took your soul away. If you mean that you left a conservative church for a liberal one, I can assure you that there is more traffic in the opposite direction. The denominations that pander to feminists, homosexuals, and now transgenders keep losing members, so marketing themselves as “inclusive” doesn’t seem to be a winning strategy.

  48. Comment by Namyriah on July 31, 2015 at 11:44 am

    The article mentions 21 people, but only 11 of them are actually employed in parish ministry. That’s pretty revealing, and very typical of the way that feminists and homosexuals have operated after leaving seminary – most have zero interest in actually shepherding a congregation, but lots of interest in moving up in the denominational bureaucracy where they can get paid for activism, not ministry. I’m willing to bet that the people in the article who are currently engaged in parish ministry will leave it the first time a job opportunity opens up as paid activist.

  49. Comment by Primrose Anne Johnson Wylde on September 4, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    awe have to remember GOD is an Energy, made up of Masculine AND Feminine Energies.. This is what the Shift of All Time is about….

  50. Comment by Monica Joy Cross on November 10, 2017 at 11:53 am

    Hi, Thanks for a short list of transgender clergy. I am Rev. Monica Joy Cross, Pastor of First Christian Church of Oakland CA. and Associate Minister of Tapestry Ministries in Berkeley, Churches in the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, Northern California Nevada Conference.

  51. Comment by Cynthia on April 2, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    In Matthew 19 Jesus says there are 3 types of eunuchs. Those born that way, made eunuchs by other people and those that make themselves that way for the Kingdom of God. Priests should be castrated and become eunuchs. Men interpret this to mean they should be celibate (BS). The testosterone in priests make them pedophiles because they didnt follow Jesus’s exact words. Trandgender people that make themselves into eunuchs (weather they identify as male or female is irrelevant). Therefore the only people qualified to teach the bible are those that took the leap of faith to become castrated and live as God called them to live and love. Any other interpretation is just that because following the exact words Jesus spoke (and he was speaking with pharosies) say that only those who become eunuchs by their own hand for the Kingdom of God shall enter. Priests are men with testosterone which Jesus would never allow. The Pope needs to have all priests castrated or leave the priesthood.

  52. Comment by ANDREW L TANNENBAUM on October 27, 2019 at 12:20 pm

    We all try to make the world more like us. Heterosexuals influence the world to be more like them. It seems fit that homosexuals have the same influence. Perhaps this has lead to increased trans identity. It seems like the world is heading for chaos. Keep it simple. If you dont have clear physical sexual identity, be celibate, rather than be offensive. Let that be your protest to God and humanity. Perhaps God will answer your complaint. Humanity will not, for it offers the services of its ruler – the price of which is truth.

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