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Dear friend,
Pride is a season of sacred resistance. This June, Kairos is proud to stand alongside LGBTQ+ leaders, clergy, and organizers proclaiming: we will not let hate speak for our faith. In this issue, we share new writings, spiritual reflections, book tour updates, and calls to action. Let’s move together in power.
In this issue: Together, we can build a society in which all people are free and can thrive in the abundance of beauty and truth. You only get what you’re organized to take, The Kairos Center |
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The Kairos Center has proudly pledged to recommit to pride with the Interfaith Alliance and dozens of other faith-based groups.
“We decry that too often religion is used to attack LGBTQ+ people and that many in the LGBTQ+ community view religion as hostile to their well-being. We refuse to let those who weaponize religion against our LGBTQ+ siblings speak for us. The majority of religious people in America support full LGBTQ equality.” |
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Common Dreams: What We Can Learn From Trans People in the Fight for Dignity and Democracy |
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“If Christian nationalists insist on using the Bible to underwrite their social and political violence, those of us who call ourselves Christians must be willing to defend LGBTQ+ people with fervor and theological rigor.”
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Aaron Scott, and Min. Moses Hernandez McGavin take to the pages of Common Dreams to lift up the fight for queer and gender justice. Underscoring how the Bible names and respects the divinity of myriad genders, Theoharis, Scott, and McGavin urge Christians to proclaim a gospel that teaches love, inclusion, diversity, and justice. |
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It’s Pride Month at Freedom Church of the Poor: Join us everyday Sunday & Wednesday |
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This Pride Season, queer and trans leaders at Freedom Church of the Poor will uplift the power, strength, insight, and sacred commitment of our community. We will confront violent theologies and so-called “texts of terror”—biblical interpretations weaponized to harm and exclude—while lifting up the ways God celebrates the diversity of Their creation throughout scripture. By grounding our leaders and our community in the training and commitment to confront these Biblical heresies and violent theologies, we will confront the harm these dangerous ideologies have caused. Together, we will care for our people, celebrate the divine image in every queer and trans body, and commit to building a movement that transcends division and takes aim at the real forces of oppression. This Pride, we proclaim: liberation, not just for ourselves, but for all. |
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Minnesota, registration is live! |
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On June 15th, we’ll be in Minneapolis. Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back will be at Centro De Trabajadores Unidos En La Lucha (CTUL) for the next stop on the You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take tour. Join us for a group discussion on how we, as people of faith and faith communities, can be a part of poor people's movements, and interrogate our own questions and wonders about how we can organize across differences to build poor and working people's power! |
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Illinois, there’s still time to register! |
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June 12th, 13th, and 14th will bring the You Only Get What You’re Organized To Take tour to two stops in Illinois. We cannot wait to connect with you! |
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Kairos stands in the long tradition of prophets, spiritual leaders, and freedom fighters from our sacred traditions who have stood up to the empires, kings, pharaohs, caesars, and unjust rulers of their day. Join us and hundreds of partners nationwide in the streets on June 14th to remind this nation that we recognize no kings. Resources below. |
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In solidarity with the Angelenos taking a stand to defend their communities, families, and neighbors, we return to three essential beliefs outlined in the No Kings Faith Resources, written by Rev. Dr. Jessica Williams our Director of Development and Engagement
1. We believe that this moment demands moral clarity. We will not stand by while our neighbors are deprived of their rights. “Woe to you who deprive people of their rights”—we stand together to call for justice, dignity, and the protection of the most vulnerable.
2. We believe in an America where we care for one another, not one that divides and destroys. Hands off our communities, hands off our rights, hands on healing, hands on lifting each other up. We reject policies that harm the poor to serve the powerful.
3. We believe that now is the time for all hands on deck. The moral crisis of this moment requires action—standing up, speaking out, and organizing together to build the just and compassionate society that we all deserve.
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Common Defense - Veterans Slam Trump’s Deployment of Troops to L.A. and Threat to Use Marines |
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Common Defense, the nation’s largest grassroots veterans organization, released a statement condemning President Trump for deploying the National Guard on peaceful protestors in Los Angeles. |
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Axios - Faith leaders want religious groups to "recommit to Pride" |
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Kairos, along with dozens of other faith communities and thousands of individuals, signed onto the recommit to pride pledge issued from Interfaith Alliance. Axios covered this initiative. |
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