by Amy Cerniglia | Feb 23, 2024 | Covenant Network News, Gender, News
We mourn the death of Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary student in Owasso, Oklahoma, who was attacked by classmates in a bathroom at their high school on February 7. School officials did not report the assault to local law enforcement or emergency services, and...
by Amy Cerniglia | Feb 11, 2024 | Covenant Network News, Gender
In every account of the Transfiguration, God calls and claims God’s beloved child. The Church celebrates the Transfiguration of the Lord at the end of the season of Epiphany. Each year of the lectionary cycle, we read the narrative from a different Gospel. This...
by Amy Cerniglia | Nov 20, 2023 | Covenant Network News, Gender, Personal Testimony
This post was written by Joshua Clapp, seminarian at The University of Dubuque Theological Seminary and Inquirer under care of Mission Presbytery in San Antonio, Texas. Today, we take time to remember the brave souls who dared to be themselves in a world of people who...
by Amy Cerniglia | Nov 16, 2023 | Covenant Network News, Gender
Each year between November 13-19, people around the country celebrate Transgender Awareness Week to encourage understanding of transgender people and the challenges that gender-diverse people face. On November 20, Transgender Awareness Week ends with Transgender Day...
by Amy Cerniglia | Oct 11, 2023 | Covenant Congregations, Covenant Network News, Gender, News, Sexuality
In 1978, California Proposition 6 sought to ban gay and lesbian people from working in public schools. Harvey Milk the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, launched a campaign against the initiative. On November 7, after the definitive...
by Amy Cerniglia | Aug 15, 2023 | Covenant Congregations, Covenant Network News, Featured Advocating, Gender, Uncategorized
We give thanks for congregations in our inclusive network bearing witness to God’s love for LGBTQ+ people in their communities! When a member of First Presbyterian Church in Lawrence, KS attended a recent county commissioner meeting to discuss a different...
by Amy Cerniglia | Aug 1, 2023 | Covenant Congregations, Covenant Network News, Gender, News, Personal Testimony
By the Rev. Marci Auld Glass A few weeks ago, protesters came to disrupt and harass our worship service at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. It was traumatic for the congregation. It was a fundraiser on Facebook live for the protestors, asking people to...
by Amy Cerniglia | Jul 14, 2023 | Covenant Network News, Gender
First celebrated in 2021, International Non-Binary People’s Day is observed each year on July 14. In 2018, the 223rd General Assembly (2018) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved an overture “affirming and celebrating the full dignity and humanity of...
by Amy Cerniglia | Jun 1, 2023 | Covenant Network News, Featured Resourcing, Gender, News, Personal Testimony, Sexuality
In June, we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride month! As we kick off this month of affirming all God’s children, especially highlighting people marginalized for their gender or sexual identities, we are sharing a new resource on our Becoming a Welcoming Church Page: A...
by Amy Cerniglia | Apr 26, 2023 | Covenant Network News, Gender, News, Personal Testimony, Sexuality
By Amy Cerniglia For Lesbian Day of Visibility, historically celebrated on April 26, I wrote last year about the frightening book bans and attitudes of “Don’t Say Gay” creeping into Florida classrooms and threatening the visibility of sexual minorities. In this last...