For the June newsletter, Revd Nathan wrote the following:
27th May 2025Dear friends,
Have you ever been made to feel to be less than you are? Have you ever been discriminated against or marginalized? Have you ever been silenced or prevented from talking? June marks Pride month and some people may think that we don’t need a special month for LGBT+ visibility, and in theory we shouldn’t, but it’s because there is still discrimination and marginalization that we do need Pride month.
Last year I reflected in my journal on what Pride meant to me: I need Pride because I still live in the closet, fearing what others may say, fearing rejection, fearing attack from what siblings (other Christians) might say. Not sharing the whole of myself, not sharing my hope and joy of finally being me and feeling that I am being set free. Pride is about visibility, I exist in wonder and complexity, I am fearfully, queerfully and wonderfully made. God has made me and I have nothing to hide. Pride is about protest – there is much in our world that in not right; so much discrimination, so many lies and hate which need to spoken truth and love. All are made in the image of God, in wonder and diversity, in mess and complexity.
Now a year on, I am living much more boldly. I started to wear a rainbow lanyard along
with my red Methodist Church one last Pride and have kept on wearing it because
visibility is important. I still wonder
if or more likely when I will face opposition, or ridicule. But I am without doubt being authentically me
and embracing my sparkle.
It has been said: “Once, Pride was a riot. A protest. A march for
visibility. Today, Pride is still all of
that — and more. It’s a celebration of
identity, of love, of survival. It’s a
moment to reflect on the battles fought and the rights won. But it’s also a reminder that not everyone in
the LGBT+ community is safe, seen, or equal — not yet. Pride 2025 honours the past, celebrates the
present, and fights for the future. Today
— and every day — we stand in solidarity with all identities under the LGBTQIA+
umbrella. We honour the courage it takes
to live authentically, the strength it takes to keep pushing forward, and the
joy that comes from being truly seen and supported. In a world that still too often asks us to
hide, Pride boldly declares: You are valid. You are loved. You belong.”
I am incredibly proud that RMCC are embracing Pride month and for the
month of June the sanctuary will be decked in Pride flags, we are providing an
affirming Christian presence at Ruby Pride on 21st June and holding
a Pride Celebration on Sunday 22nd June.
We are all called to be fully who we are, to embrace our sparkle – truly
being authentically who we are called to be.
So often we can go through life wearing masks, pretending that we are
something or someone that we are not.
But Jesus invites us to take of all our masks, that we may be truly
ourselves, and we can discover or rediscover who we are in Jesus.
It was my immense privilege this year to be invited to write a prayer
for Pride month for use across the Northampton District.
Every
blessing
Nathan