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This page will list each day's scripture, devotion, question(s) to ponder, and a short bio of each author for the first week of the Mountain Sky Conference Devoted with PRIDE. Participants on the journey will receive a daily email with this same content.
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Psalm 88, NRSV
“O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah...You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape; my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah...Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness? But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me? Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate. Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me. You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness.”
Devotion:
A few years ago, during Pride, I coined the term “Pride Moments'' and I want to share what that is. LGBTQ+ Pride is full of joy, laughter, authenticity, and bright colors. It is also rooted in fear, anger, and death. It’s rooted in despondency, a loss of hope and courage. This dark and painful side of Pride can be found in Psalm 88.
When the psalmist writes: “O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles…I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help, like those forsaken among the dead….” I cannot help but think about when I was deep in the closet, so afraid of whom God made me to be. So afraid that I would be shunned and thrown into a greater pit than the one I was already in. I might as well have been dead because I felt so lost.
When the psalmist writes: “You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them.” I can’t help but think of the time my wife, Colleen, and I were sitting on an airplane next to another United Methodist Clergy person and after I introduced myself as a clergy person, she then asked Colleen who she was and Colleen promptly, said, “I’m her wife.” The look of shock that came over that clergy person's face I will never forget. She couldn’t even form a full sentence afterwards.
When the psalmist writes: “Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread my hands to you…But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you. O Lord, why do you cast me off?” I can’t help but think about the time I collapsed to my knees in the shower, desperate for understanding and love, literally drowning in my own self-hate, simply because God had made me different.
You see, Pride is rooted in fear, anger, and death. But Pride is also fabulous, joyful, authentic, and one giant celebration. It’s a celebration remembering the Stonewall riots that took place against a police raid at a gay bar in Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969. It’s a celebration of love, love having the final word not hate. A celebration to be who you were born to be. And for the LGBTQ+ community, we have Pride Moments throughout the year. These Pride Moments are moments that are full of tension, of joy and sorrow, the tension of excitement and anger, the tension of life and death.
The one thing we can hold tight to is that even in our Pride Moments – in the highs and lows of our life’s journey – God is there. God will always be there with us and love us unconditionally. God walks with us among the shadows and wipes our tears away. Blessed be the one that understands our Pride Moments.
To Ponder: If you are LGBTQ+, reflect on a Pride Moment you have had recently and see if there is a way you can express that Pride Moment to an ally.
Allies, listen to these Pride Moments by practicing active listening skills so you can hear the complete message being communicated and defer judgement. Together we can create a better world by being open to new relationships and understanding new perspectives.
Bio:
Rev. Angie Kotzmoyer (she/her) is the Lead Pastor at Applewood Valley United Methodist Church in Golden, CO. She became an Elder in the Mountain Sky Conference in June of 2020. In her spare time she loves fishing and camping with her wife, Colleen, their dog, Callie, and cat, Carl.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Proverbs 2:6, NRSV
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
Devotion:
I never thought I’d be working for the United Methodist Church. If you could talk to 20-year-old me or 15-year-old me, I think they would be shocked, and dare I say disappointed to learn that they end up working for the church. The path I have sown over the years has been thwart with unexpected detours, surprises, heartbreak and disappointment. Every step I’ve taken, and every choice I’ve made has shaped who I am today. I am very proud of who I have become and although my life is not how “younger me” imagined, I am very happy with my life. My name is Amanda Daniell, and I serve as the Coordinator of Young People’s Ministries and Camping Ministry for the Mountain Sky Conference. My pronouns are she, her, hers, and before I moved to Mountain Sky Conference and took on this exciting role, I had no clue what “pronouns” were, or why they were important.
I grew up in Texas. I love Texas and am very proud of my Texas heritage (as all Texans are). I served as the youth director for several churches in Central Texas and I’m sad to say that being an inclusive United Methodist conference was not a priority, like it is in Mountain Sky. The drive to be inclusive was something that drew my family to the Mountain Sky Conference. My husband and I, although we were not well informed in Texas, felt a tug to Mountain Sky. We felt the tug for several reasons, but one was the inclusiveness of Mountain Sky. We wanted to be a part of a conference that recognized the gifts and graces of everybody.
Since taking on this role with the conference, I have had the pleasure of working with Courtney VonLindern. Courtney serves as the Designer of NextGen and Inclusiveness Ministries, and they have added so much to my ministry and helped me understand how to be a true ally by first being informed! Thankfully Court is very gracious, and understanding, because there are times, I am ignorant, and clueless! To my 2SLGBTQIAP+ brothers and sisters and siblings, please be patient with us, we are trying, but know that you are not walking alone.
Who in your life has helped shape your allyship?
Bio:
Amanda (she, her, hers) lives in Riverton, WY with her husband Ken and daughter Grace. She is the Coordinator of Young People’s Ministries and Camping Ministry for the Mountain Sky Conference.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Genesis 1:26 , NRSV
“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…”
Devotion:
Our culture doesn’t do well with bodies. We are quick to offer “feedback” about others’ bodies and our assessment of their beauty. As Christians, we tend to over-associate ‘faith’ with ‘soul’ and ‘mind’ – disregarding or degrading our relationship to ‘body.’ This backdrop is where my journey of gender identity emerges.
I was assigned female at birth. My gender expression always trended masculine, even before I allowed myself permission to express myself as masculine. I struggled with my body. But, our culture tells females that this is their lot in life: to struggle with body image. I continued to struggle. But then, I was told it was a result of trauma. A dissociative relationship to my body as a result of trauma coupled with the prescribed body image issues of being assigned female at birth. This made sense until I asked what I am meant to believe about parts of my body that felt other-worldly to my sense of self. The binary world told me I was, therefore, a man. But, I’m not that. I wasn’t this, either.
I spent half my life as a Methodist before I was ordained a Disciple. What am I? Unifying. I was formed in ministry as a chaplain – in-between the church and the world – and am now a pastor. What am I? A bridge. So, I was assigned female at birth – but am not a woman nor a man. What am I? Non-binary. Both/neither.
God creates humankind, Scripture reads, in God’s image – “our” image. Who is God? Perhaps, both/neither. A spectrum of identity coalesced into one who creates a diversity of new life.
What either/or’s in your life do you need to be liberated from to embrace the both/neither that is part of what the Divine gifted to our world?
Bio:
Rev. Kendall Kridner-Protzmann is ordained Disciples of Christ and serves as the Congregational Care Pastor at St. Andrew UMC. Kendall is non-binary trans masculine and uses no pronouns (click here to learn what to do when someone uses no pronouns).
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
1 John 4:16, NIV:
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them."
Devotion:
This Bible verse is my entire faith. It has and continues to lead me to participate in spaces where love needs growing in the world.
I believe that God is Love and we are called by Jesus to love God, love God's creation,
our neighbors, strangers, and enemies.
I believe Jesus died because he refused to back down from his message of how to live God's Love in the face of evil. In that way he died for our sins and it was his decision not to fail God in this. Jesus is the teacher that my culture has introduced me to and he is a wonderful teacher.
I believe people are flawed in our very genes as we struggle with the ramifications of conflicting basic needs — belonging to groups for mutual care, and peace between groups for mutual survival. But I do not believe we are condemned for the way we are created.
When studying the Bible I find no hell. I do find a history of a people's struggle to see God in their lives and times of poverty, tribalism, and war, much as we do today.
The Bible has, in it's history, become property to principalities and powers that reflect themselves in its translations and content. Thankfully scholars have been able to analyze and sort out most of those issues, and their work now available to all.
I believe God didn't deny Love to any culture, also sending them teachers and understanding; nor did God stop teaching humans with the Bible, but that we learn more every day through science and community.
I do not believe a loving God condemns anyone to suffer, before or after death: whether the person has done great harm, or is simply "different" from the majority — LGBTQIAP+, BIPOC, another faith, or of no faith.
I firmly believe we are called to live as if we are all each others' children and each other's parents, and to include our entire planet in our family. Statistics tell us if we all tracked our family genes back to the time of Jesus, we would find we are related to his family, and to Pilate and the Pharisees, and everyone else from that time. Just back that far, and we are all related. Best of all, we and everything on earth are all made from the same star-dust. Life is amazing and beautiful.
When we take God's love seriously we open ourselves to live in the world differently, knowing God loves every person and expects us to do the same. We can explore what our world can be like if we base our actions on that foundation. When we give up beliefs that justify fear, hate and violence we work with a new vision for our personal, religious, and our communities' lives. We grow Love. And that is what is most necessary in this world.
What can you believe? Can you truly believe God is Love?
Bio:
I am Karen Loos (she, her, hers), LGBTQIAP+ ally and lay person, retired costumer, now in Missoula, MT, staying with intent in the Methodist Church.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Matthew 5:38-42, NRSV:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.”
Devotion:
When it comes to family and sorting through the messy nature of how to love one another, I want to offer a potentially controversial thought. Every family member, friend, or even stranger, who has had an extreme reaction to you, be it to your identity, career of choice, partner status, the list could go on; whether that reaction was positive or negative; no matter what the outcome was; the intent behind that extreme reaction was love.
I want to be clear that this does not excuse abusive behaviors. This does not grant a pass for those who have hurt, harmed, or traumatized you. I am constantly cognizant of the line between intent and impact. Even if the intent is good, if harm comes from it, the actions, language, and behaviors should at a bare minimum be examined.
This reminds me of a time shortly after I had sent out my “I’m trans'' coming out letter. I had received many cards of congratulations and encouragement, and then one day, I received a letter from an auntie adjacent. She was one of the siblings my father had lived with as an exchange student in high school in St. Louis. In her letter, she stated she would never call me by anything but my deadname “for that is who you truly are'' and quoted the Bible several times. Unfortunately, I have since lost the letter and no longer remember the bible verses, because honestly? They really resonated with me that I was making the right decision. One of them may have even been the “Knit in your mothers womb” verse from the Psalms.
Looking back now, after many years, many similar situations, and the subsequent conversations, I’ve been able to come to the following conclusion:
Her intent was not to hurt me. Her intent was to save my soul. In her eyes, and according to her beliefs, I am condemned to hell. And that made her so sad(!) that she stayed up all night, (there was a handwritten 4:20am timestamp), prayed to the God that she believes in, and tried to save my soul from the eternal damnation she fears I am doomed to experience. That could potentially be one of the most loving reactions I got. She was so afraid, not of me but for me, that she went out of her way to let me know that she cared about me, albeit in a language that was...less than ideal.
So my question to our allies is this: How do you show love, especially when you disagree, in a way that shows grace and values the other person's dignity?
And for my fellow LGBTQ+ folx: While it doesn’t erase the pain that is caused, how can we reconcile the intent of love with the impact of the words, to allow ourselves to move forward and love ourselves better?
Bio:
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My name is Matthew John Angermayr, He/They, Estes Park, CO.
I am Co-Pastor at MCC Family in Christ and am in the early stages of pursuing a monastic form of Wesleyan ministry and worship.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Ruth 1:16, GNT:
“Don't ask me to leave you! Let me go with you.”
Devotion:
You can listen to Stacey Hilzer's devotion here:
Devoted with PRIDE: June 18th, 2021 - Stacey Hilzer from Mountain Sky Conference | UMC on Vimeo.
Video Transcript:
“Don’t ask me to leave you! Let me go with you.” This is where my devotion will live and find space within you today, I pray. The idea that we need to ask and be given permission “to go” an action as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. It is not enough to just say we are welcoming and affirming. It is not enough to put All Are Welcome on our signs, literature, and persons, even if it is in rainbow colors. Our ideas are only as good as our actions make them. Let me? An action.
As people of faith when we see people hurting and in pain, often our initial instinct is to offer a solution: to find some way to fix it. This may be rooted in compassion and concern, but it is usually not a helpful response. For one, it privileges the practical over the emotional and the systemic over the personal. Let me? An action.
“Let me,” such a small part of the scripture but without it would not have the same relationship building consequences that this verse demands.
Relationships are built on trust, and in the LGBTQ+ community’s relationship with the Church, the concept of trust is greatly emphasized out of a mutual urgency, trying to figure out if the other can be trusted. Let me? An action.
Relationships are complicated, and inevitably we will fall short. Being an ally of the LGBTQt community is no exception. There is no such thing as a perfect ally, so it’s important to be prepared for when you mess up. Lead with love and root yourself in relationships built on deep listening. Apologize when you make mistakes. Let me? An action.
As a flawed ally of the LGBTQ+ community I simply ask Let me? An action.
Let me? An action.
Bio:
Stacey Hilzer (she/her):I grew up attending El Mesias UMC in Pueblo Colorado, a Spanish/English congregation. My identity was shaped by this church that embraced me as a brown little girl. I have worship at Hope UMC for the last 21 years in Greenwood Village, CO and have been on staff for the last 2 years working with the youth.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!
Celebrate pride this year through daily devotions created by clergy and laity throughout the Mountain Sky Conference and beyond!
Scripture:
Luke 9:28-29, 32, NRSV:
“Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white...Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.”
Devotion:
1. I see this moment in Jesus’ life as a point of maturation. After a hike up a mountain, which had to have been grueling, he is literally “dazzling” as he reveals his true transfigured self to his closest friends. We know what is to come for our Christ and he knows it too. Yet he chooses to continue to stand in all of who he truly is, who God has made him to be. Even at high cost, there is new life for us all when we stand in truth and the light of Christ that resides within us.
2. I imagine after the arrival of Jesus and the three to the top of the mountain, the atmosphere may have felt quiet, safe like a haven, peaceful, private. It may have also felt quiet as in disconcerting, uncomfortable, awkward, as they probably mulled around in their own thoughts, wondered in discomfort. The three did not know what was next, yet they still went along at Jesus’ invitation. True relationships should make way for open-mindedness, compassion and empathy.
3. Honestly, Jesus didn’t have to take anyone with him this day, but he did. We are meant to be intimate human beings together, open to authentic witness of each other. Sometimes, I feel the need to see or experience things for myself in order to understand and accept it. I am thankful for a savior who reminds me that all he asks of us is that we love one another as much as the God who created us loves each of us.
Prayer:
Blessed Creator, help me and help us to fearlessly shine and dazzle, JUST as God created us to do and be. Help me and help us to pray and allow trusted people into our lives to witness our beautiful journeys as we live according to the divine within us. And like the disciples, help me and help us be open to invitation, to have empathy and respect for one another, as well as see and walk with each other even when our walks of life and identities do not look familiar to our own. God, help me to remember that where I don’t understand, you do; help us live into your invitation.
Bio:
Rev. Xyaire C. Paris Woods (he/they/she) is a minister ordained through the Central Rocky Mountain Region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Their spouse, Rahdearra, is a certified candidate for ministry in the Mountain Sky Conference of the UMC. Xyaire is also a United States Air Force Veteran and former Hospital Chaplain. As a recently recovering trauma-affected disabled Veteran, they are currently on a traveling radical self-healing “sabbatical” to learn how to live in concert with all the intersections of their God-blessed identities.
Join the Conversation:
Join us on Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads for a daily opportunity to interact with others as you engage with each daily devotion. Mountain Sky Ministry Crossroads is a new collaborative platform with resources for ministry and network with others for ministry support and innovation! Sign up here to become a member of Crossroads, and join the “Devoted with PRIDE June 2021” Workshop!