Seven Trans Gifts For the Church

In Trans/formations (Scm Controversies in Contexual Theology Series), Virginia Ramy Mollenkott reflects on the gifts of the three magi who brought their gifts to the infant Jesus, and recalls Nancy Wilson's thesis that they were more likely to have been women or eunuchs. (Mollenkott's own guess is that they were people who would no be called transwomen). She goes on to describe the seven spiritual gifts that modern transgendered people similarly bring to the Church today.

These are:

• Any faith-congregation that honours the bible should also homour transgender people because both the Hebrew and Chrstian Scriptures are extraordinarily transgender friendly. The gift here is that congregations will be empowered to see the Bible with a whole new perspective.

• Transpeople will assist congregations in transcending gender stereotypes that alienate men from women and their bodies, and poppress women and girls all over the world.

• The transgender presence is a constant reminder of human diversity and hence of the much-needed diversity in religious language about God, the divine mystery that is beyond human imaginings and limitations.

• Until our recent cultural blindness, transpeople were always recognized as being specially gifted at building bridges between the seen and the unseen worlds, time and eternity; and many still carry that ability

• Transpeople have by hte circumstances of our lives been forced to become specialists in the connections between gender, sexualitym spirituality and justice, and many congregations are iun desperaate need of our assistance in making those connections.

• Because we embody the "forgotten middle - ground" or "ambiguity", transpeople can help to heal religious addictions to certainty - addictions that are threatening the survival of our planet.

• Transpeople incarnate the concept that jsut as all races are "one blood", all genders and sexualities are one continuun" - and that one blood and one continuumare sacred, made in the holy, divine image.

Books:

Althaus-Reid, Marcella and Isherwood, Lisa: Trans/formations

Mollenkott, Virginia: Omnigender: A Trans-religious Approach

Mollenkott, Virginia: Transgender Journeys

Mollenkott, Virginia: Sensuous Spirituality

Related Posts:

Three Queens of the East

Trans in Scripture

Honoring Virginia Ramey Mollenkott

Transgendered in Faith: A Review of Progress

I am astonished that much as the religious right waxes apoplectic at the idea of lesbian or gay inclusion in church, or secular equality in marriage, family or employment law, what really gets them going is the notion of the trans community being met with basic human dignity. Their pretence that this is based on "religious" principle is beyond my comprehension: from the story of Philip the Ethiopian eunuch in the Acts of the Apostles, the lesson is unambiguous and explicit: for the Christian, "All are welcome". 

My post last week on Genesis emphasised that a primary point of the Creation story is a celebration of diversity, which includes gender, sexual and orientation diversity. By grand serendipity (I didn't plan it that way), today marks the start of Transgendered in Faith Awareness Week. to mark this week, I will continue reflecting on the celebration of gender diversity, with reposts of some previously published material, and fresh thoughts, on some transsexual and transgender surprises in the animal kingdom, a look at some books, trans themes in Scripture, and some personal stories. 

To start the week, I simply draw your attention to a Guardian report by Becky Garrison which says that

Trans clergy are finally gaining greater acceptance