QUAD CITIES – For the past seven years, every year that there has been an LGBTQ+ Pride Parade, Pastor Santina Poor and a group of her congregants at Moline’s Hope United Church of Christ have been part of the event.
One year, they joined a nonprofit called One Human Family. Most years, Poor (below and center in cover photo) and her congregants have been joined by just a few other churches from throughout the seven-city Quad Cities area.
This year, thanks to a new coalition of “open and affirming” churches from several denominations, Hope UCC and the other long-term parade participants will likely be joined in the June 14 parade by many more, and diverse, faith groups.
The new coalition, loosely titled Affirming Congregations of the Quad Cities, is spearheaded by two Rock Island churches within blocks of each other: Church of Peace United Church of Christ and Two Rivers United Methodist Church.
Their pastors, Tyler Yost and Robb McCoy, are leading an effort to create a coalition of faith groups publicly welcoming of LGBTQ+ Quad Citians. The group will aim to join the parade as a united group with shirts representing different faith groups, host a booth at The Project of the Quad Cities’ Pride event June 28., and field a walking team for the Project’s 5K that morning.
The group also aims to hold several events during the Pride month of June. Those plans include an interfaith spiritual gathering to kick off the month, a panel discussion of area spiritual leaders, and a showing of the documentary “1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture,” about how the word “homosexuality” was mistakenly condemned in the Bible.
“So much of Christianity has an ill-informed and an incorrect interpretation of Scriptures that has caused a lot of pain,” says Yost, below in the Church of Peace sanctuary and at right in the cover photo. “We’re trying to speak out against a super-conservative interpretation of the Bible, and we’re trying to prevent religious trauma.”
Yost also came out as bisexual last year and says biphobia is on par with homophobia and transphobia as a pain in need of healing.
Greater sense of urgency inspired Affirming Congregations
Though several Quad Cities area churches have been active in the LGBTQ+ community over the years, like Hope UCC, this is the first time a coalition of churches from both the Illinois and Iowa side of the Quad Cities have tried to form a larger coalition.
“There’s a greater sense of ‘we need to work together and do more. This moment feels serious,’ says McCoy of Two Rivers, below at his desk and at left in the cover photo. His daughter came out as “queer” a few years ago.
McCoy cited the Trump administration’s continuous attacks on, and attempted erasure of, programs and references to LGBTQ+ or transgender. He said the state of Iowa’s recent removal of gender identity from the state’s civil rights code is also inspiring more urgent action and coalescing.
“The exclusionary voice is so loud right now, it’s important we show that affirming Christianity is not some kind of niche, small faction thing. For us, it’s the heart of Christianity, and it’s a lot more than people realize.”
Poor, whose son’s partner is transgender, has been part of annual LGBTQ+ Pride events in the Quad Cities since she started as pastor at Hope UCC in 2018.
She’s grateful for the new focus from other churches to provide a united welcoming message. Just as important, she said, is for LGBTQ+ people and their friends and family to know there are many different spiritual options for them rather than a “one size fits all.”
“So many of us grew up in a faith tradition, whether we were affirmed or uplifted, or hurt and suffered, and we have to know that’s not all there is,” she says. “Now, it’s more important than ever to make sure people know there are many safe places to explore your sacred journey, in an affirming and welcoming place.”
Quad Cities spiritual leaders with a history of LGBTQ+ outreach include (clockwise from top left): Rich Hendricks of MCC, Linda Bertenthal of Temple Emanuel and Beth Israel; Lisa Olsen Gaston of Edwards UCC; Sabrina Trupia of UUCQC; Duane Lahti of First Congregational UCC; and Henry Karp, retired from Temple Emanuel.
Many Quad Cities faith groups have history of LGBTQ+ outreach
Several other faith groups in the Quad Cities have also been a constant presence at LGBTQ+ and Pride events over the years.
In addition to Hope UCC, Church of Peace UCC, and Two Rivers UMC, those faith groups include Edwards United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities, and Temple Emanuel and Congregation Beth Israel in Davenport. Temple Emanuel and Beth Israel hosted the Quad Cities’ first-ever Pride Shabbat last year.
The Metropolitan Community Church in Davenport has also been a pioneer for the LGBTQ+ community for decades. Its pastor, Rich Hendricks, helped found the LGBTQ+ nonprofit QC Unity Pride, which is the Quad Cities’ first Pride nonprofit and the one that organizes the parade.
He also co-founded the activist groups One Human Family QCA and Progressive Action for the Common Good.
First Congregational UCC-Moline is among the faith groups who have increased their LGBTQ+ visibilty and outreach in recent years. It’s part of the new coalition and — like Hope, Church of Peace, and Edwards — is also officially designated by the UCC as an “open and affirming congregation.”
Above, some LGBTQ+ affirming congregations in other communities include the Rainbow Faith Coalition of Greater Des Moines, the LGBTQ+ Affirming Faith Community Network in Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; and Marion Affirming Congregations in Marion, Ia.
Affirming spiritual networks exist throughout Illinois, Iowa
Coalitions like Affirming Congregations in the Quad Cities have formed in other Illinois and Iowa communities, too. For example:
- Champaign-Urbana in Illinois offers the LGBTQ+ Affirming Faith Community Network
- Chicago lists scores of welcoming congregations at the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches
- Des Moines has the Rainbow Faith Coalition
- Marion, Ia., started Marion Affirming Congregations last year
- Peoria, Ill., provides a directory of affirming faith groups through Peoria Proud
Many international denominations also have official programs that their member churches or campuses can undertake, to become some version of “open and affirming.
For instance: the United Church of Christ denomination features a full process to become certified as an open and affirming congregation. Methodists have a process to become a “reconciling congregation.”¨
Unitarian Universalist congregations can officially become ¨welcoming and inclusive.” The Episcopal Faith and the Unity denomination have historically been welcoming of LGBTQ+ people (HRC).
And MCC churches like the one in Davenport are part of a worldwide denomination originally formed in 1968 to represent LGBTQ+-welcoming Christian churches.
To inquire about your church being part of the Affirming Congregations of the Quad Cities, reach McCoy at mccoy@tworiversumc.org, Poor at pastor.hopeuccqc@gmail.com, or Yost at pastor@churchofpeaceucc.org.
