A Letter from Lindy

Hello Pilgrims,

 Sunday is Pentecost, the experience we mark as the birthday of the church for followers of Jesus.  It also marks the season of Pentecost or known otherwise as “Ordinary Times,” which sounds much more ho hum, even if it is anything but. In the expanse of these months we become Marys, sitting at Jesus’ feet and Marthas, walking alongside him– leaning in and participating in his ministry, learning how to be disciples of the “Way.” Lessons that I am grateful to have on rinse and repeat yearly as I too easily succumb to the temptations of this world that beckon me to care only and exclusively about me, myself and I. Thankful for these 6 month guardrails that help steer me toward kindom. 

I am mindful of the Pilgrim adage that our faucet slows to a drip, drip during these summer months, but I beg to differ at my 8 year mark. Our summers prove to be filled with opportunities and activities that help us both engage in beloved community and resist against the powers and principalities that seek to diminish and extinguish God’s expansive light of love and hope and grace and compassion. Pentecost is a perfect holy day to push against one aspect of this narrowing of what it means to be a child of God with whom the Holy is well-pleased. From Pentecost forward, we will be raising awareness and honor for other vulnerable communities, but this Sunday we will love out loud with our siblings in the lgbtquia community. Yes, Durham celebrates PRIDE in September, but June is PRIDE month across the expanse of our country and it feels ever so  important for us to lean into WorldPride 2025, this weekend. UCC Office of Gender & Sexuality Justice notes that PRIDE as always been a protest,

The UCC’s celebration of Pride means more than ever this year. Amidst cruel, hateful, and discriminatory attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, a faithful presence at Pride helps dispel the myth that religion and queerness can’t coexist.  Even as many religious spaces seek to cast us out and marginalize us, LGBTQ+ people of faith still choose to pursue a relationship with God and the church, because we know we are beautifully created in the image of God, and queerness is a gift from God. 

And so, we add our voices to this beautiful, expansive and diverse chorus this Sunday!

see you then,

Pastor Lindy

(she/her) why pronouns matter

Art: The clarion call for LGBTQIA+ advocacy is reverberating!

Love is Louder: Love Your Neighbor OUT LOUD is a campaign faithfully supporting the spiritual, physical, and mental well-being of LGBTQIA+ siblings by equipping faith communities 

with resources and tools for just action and care. To learn more, go to ucc.org/loveislouder.