Christians – Anglicans; Pansexual and Transgender & Cisgender; Priests, Uniting Church Ministers, Wives, Grand/Parent, Theology Lecturers, Activists, Dancers, Spiritual Directors

Curatorial: Transcending the divides of different Christian traditions, Penny and Josephine, as a married couple and as ordained priests, have committed their lives to ministry, building bridges of understanding between churches and peoples through their vocations. Their love for one another through their marriage is in itself a testimony to love and commitment beyond the limitations of gender and sexuality.

Image description: Penny and Josephine holding hands held as a couple whilst their other hands swing outward in a rejoiceful pose against a hot pink backdrop. Robed in their ministerial white Alb vestment, Penny has a stole with the rainbow pride colours and Josephine has a stole with the blue-

pink-white-pink-blue white Trans Pride colours.

Reflections from Josephine and Penny:

“Experiencing sacredness in and beyond ourselves has enabled us not only to survive in a world which has denied us but to be empowered to help liberate ourselves and others. At the heart of our faith is an eternal Love which sides with the marginalised and continually queers every attempt to restrict life and understanding. In the best of our traditions, ultimate beauty, truth and mystery can be encountered everywhere in creation. Knowing that ‘matter matters’ thus helps us treat the world gently and each person as an icon of Christ, utterly loved and capable of extraordinary loving transformation.” “

We find depth of peace, connection, and renewing energy in contemporary forms of ancient Christian contemplative practices, including meditative and body prayer, lectio and visio divina. These helps provide balance and integration of the many dimensions of our lives and world and open us to new possibilities of embodying love in ourselves and with others. Sharing in the Christian sacraments, and in life-giving scriptural and other spiritual words, grounds us in the embodied presence of divinity among us and energises us to walk together in the subversive Way of Jesus.” “

Life-giving spirituality is deeply trans: full of stories of trans-formation, trans-gression, and trans-figuration. This, not narrow tribal religious forms and ideologies, is at the heart of all the world’s great wisdom traditions and still provides hope and healing for all who would embrace it, under whatever name or none. Lovingly entered into, for us the stories and lived experience of Jesus Christ embodies this: transforming the powers of pain and death, transgressing the boundaries which hold our world captive, and offering transfiguring inspiration.”

“It is time for Christianity to claim its queerness fully, in word, deed, and sacrament. We rejoice at the continuing emergence of LGBTIQA+ people of faith in every tradition, and the important steps taken, not least in parts of the worldwide Anglican Communion and in the Uniting Church in which we now serve. However, even in such faith spaces, we long for a true embrace of the wonderful abundance of queer gifts and vitality. Inclusion is not enough. Full dignity, celebration, empowerment and agency for all LGBTIQA people everywhere is a divine and urgent imperative.”

Photographed by Andrew Ratter of Studio Commercial