Trans-formation: Transgender experiences, concerns, needs and how we can help make church a safer place.

An Adult Study - Sundays, May 31 – June 21 at 9:30 am

Transgender issues are making the headlines. Celebrities are raising the issue in popular culture in a way we’ve never seen before, while countless ordinary folk live as transgender individuals often facing challenges, struggles, joys, and even violence that headlines often obscure or miss.

More importantly, people in our own congregational circle identify as transgender or “trans”. Church members are parents or partners to people who are trans. People who use our church space are transgender. It’s possible that one of our youth or the children who sit on the steps each week for “Our Time with Children” may someday understand their own gender as different from the sex which is on their birth certificate. People who have worshipped with us are trans.

What would you do if a co-worker or friend shared with you the fact that they are transgender? What if it were your child? How equipped are we to be allies, friends, family members, or congregational companions to people whose gender identity or expression is different from that assigned to them at birth? What can we do if this is our own experience? Is church a safe place to share this?

In our brief, four-week Adult Study series, we will talk with people who identify as trans, people who are family members and partners of people who are transgender, as well as talking together about how we can learn to be better allies and a safer church.

We will discuss questions such as –

What does transgender mean? What is the difference between gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation? What does it mean to transition?

What is gender non-conforming? How do I know which pronouns to use? How can our church be a more welcoming place?

We will work together to make this a safe space to share, explore, and learn together while honoring one another’s experiences. Sundays, May 31 – June 21 at 9:30 am in the sanctuary. Childcare is provided.