Woke Activists won out as Transfiguration Catholic Church in Oakdale, MN took down a controversial sign. Church leaders say that the message was posted the evening of Friday, Jan. 10, and “made reference to a specific demographic of people in a way that fails to adequately account for the Catholic Church’s teachings on the dignity of the human person.”
The message read, “Drag-queen free since 1953.” The Church apologized for the message and clarified that they took it down immediately. They say the Church regrets the controversy it has caused “as it distracts from the parish’s mission to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Leaders said, “We firmly hold that all people are made in the image of God and this innate dignity is to be respected at all times, even when serious disagreements emerge.”
They concluded Transfiguration is resolved to ensure such an incident does not occur in the future so that nobody ever feels again that our parish and school are unavailable for their spiritual and pastoral care.” Father Nate Meyers, acknowledged that that the sign was posted “briefly” on Friday. He explained in an email the sign was posted without his knowledge and that he learned about it when someone called to complain.
“I came into the office right away to remove it,” Father Meyers wrote in the email. “I promise that such a message will never be posted on the sign again.” We reported earlier, on another church embroiled in gender-related controversy. An Anglican activist group has published a paper claiming that the Bible supports transgender ideology. It suggests that “not everyone in the Bible is cisgender” and “affirms trans, intersex and queer people.” LGBT Faith UK produces several resources in its “The Bible Affirms” all of which claim to provide proof that the Bible encourages various pieces of leftist ideology.
The paper hosted on the website, reports that the Bible includes “some clear queer characters” and highlights eunuchs and women engaging in traditionally masculine roles as examples. The title reads; “The Bible affirms trans, intersex, and queer people.” It starts by saying “Not everyone in the Bible is cisgender. Nor is everyone in the Bible biologically or anatomically male or female.”
LGBT Faith UK makes the tenuous claim that eunuchs are “biblical ancestors” of trans-identified individuals, emphasizing their role in Scripture. They cite Acts 8, a passage where an angel directs the evangelist Philip to meet a eunuch reading Scripture. Philip baptizes the eunuch. This document asserts that the eunuch was accepted as “a full member [of the Church] without having to be totally male or female. God called him just as he was.”
Eunuchs were male servants who were castrated “for the purpose of trusted servitude.” This passage asserts that there are no characters in the Bible who could be identified as intersex,” “there are some characters who might be.” The document claims that in Christ’s interaction with the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John, He is actually affirming an “intersex” person.
Ann Reddecliffe wrote the section in a book titled LGBTQ Welcome. It adds that while determining “queer characters in the Bible” can be challenging, examples such as the female judge Deborah, did “a very male thing for a woman to do.” These are not official positions held by the Church of England. LGBT Faith UK campaigns for “radical inclusion” within the Church of England and is associated with the advocacy group Changing Attitude.
The organization was founded by retired Anglican priest Colin Coward. It is opposed to the Church’s “patriarchal, heteronormative, white, western privileged culture” into one that “unconditionally embraces lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer people.” The group has tried to influence COE bishops as part of an initiative called Living in Love and Faith.