About Your Church Profile...

I read your church's profile the other day,

on our Church Leadership Connection,

the matching service for

pastors seeking new congregations to serve,

and congregations seeking new pastors.

You told me of the beautiful scenic area 

in which your congregation is nestled;

yes, I know it well

It's gorgeous.

You told me about your generous, full-time

compensation package with benefits

and the lovely manse,

great for a pastor with a family.

You told me about your active congregation

And your dedicated lay leaders and ministries

Excited for a pastor to come and join them.

You told me about the great school system

And all the cultural opportunities

And what a lovely community 

it really is all around.

"Wow!" I thought,

"I really need to consider this one!"

And then you used the phrase, 

"We are a Bible-Believing, Conservative Christian Church,"

and my heart dropped,

along with your profile,

from the top of my list

to the floor

Because in one coded phrase, 

you told me:

You would not welcome my LGBTQ+ kids,

Let alone my Neurodivergent kids,

You would not welcome

my multiracial family, either;

And very likely, 

You wouldn't want me

as a Clergy Woman, anyway.

And furthermore, 

Most of our friends and family

Wouldn't be welcome to visit on a Sunday morning

even though we'd be living in a gorgeous area

perfect for camping and vacations.

And how is it even possible

That such a phrase could be posted

in a profile

in a presbytery

in our denomination

that ordains Women, and People of Color,

and LGBTQ+ people, and strives to work

for equality and justice for all people

and your congregation is in a state

that still prioritizes equality and justice

for all people

at a time that pastors and their families

and so many other families

are fleeing states that 

do just the opposite?

No, I understand exactly how carefully

that phrase is chosen

and who that church wants to attract

and who they mean to keep away.

I think briefly of writing back, 

"Are you sure you are in the right denomination?"

But likely, it would do no good.

All churches believe in the Bible, 

Some just believe 

in using it

as a weapon.

And so, 

because our family has been through this 

with other congregations before, 

and won't go through that again,

goodbye profile

goodbye full-time compensation package

goodbye lovely manse

goodbye great school district

goodbye lovely community

goodbye cultural opportunities

goodbye desirable scenic area. 

I refuse to sacrifice my family

on your bloody altar of hate.

--

(c) 2024. Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes (she/they) is ordained in the PC(USA) and serves on the Leadership Team for the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice (ACWGJ), and as a liaison to the Racial Ethnic Advocacy Committee (REAC). Le Anne also serves on the Committee for Racial Ethnic Ministries/ Self-Development of People (CREM-SDoP) for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies. Le Anne coordinates the Iowa Faith Leadership Network, the Center for Faith and Peacemaking, and Neurodiversity-Affirming Congregations, and is working to develop the Peace Center of North Iowa. She also pastors a rural UMC congregation part-time, and is a part-time hospital and Hospice chaplain. Locally, Le Anne Co-Chairs the Mason City Ministerial Association, the North Iowa Diversity Appreciation Team, and Mason City LGBTQIA+ Pride, as Coordinator of Community Care. The congregation in question was matched automatically through the denomination's matching system.

Invocation for the Dawn of a Red State School Year

Welcome back, Students,

you might notice a few

changes this year:

We cannot teach you

Real History,

nor Real Social Studies,

no genocide nor slavery

no systems of iniquities

and no Real Science,

nor even Real Biology,

lest you learn too much about

chromosomes and biodiversity

and the preacher down the street

should happen to disagree...

And no Real Literature,

even the classics

which your parents

and grandparents learned

...and loved...

And don't worry,

we've emptied

the shelves

in the library

of so many Real Books

about Real Lives

and Real Loves

of Real People

and Real Experiences

including the Reality

that human babies

are not delivered by storks

and also, that sexual abuse:

rape, and molestation,

are very Real Things, too.

And we can neither

Acknowledge nor Affirm

who you Really Are:

not your Pronouns

not your Name

And we cannot discuss

your Real Family

and your very Real Parents

who Really love the Real You

if they do not fit the

Aryan Family Ideal.

No! Not even

if your grandparents

and great-grandparents

or perhaps even

your great-great grandparents

fought against this Nazi nonsense

nearly a century ago.

No, now, our Statehouses

and our Governors

fully embrace it

and demand it

for you've got to be

carefully taught*

lest the teachers be

fined and fired

the dollars add up

the careers fade away

And remember,

Red State Students,

you don't need College

to Succeed

for the Corporations

are your Salvation

and they need Bodies

to Consume

the younger the better

We'll defund any University here

who dares to offer 'DEI'

And remember,

We can't have you

learning elsewhere

what we won't teach you here.

After all...

If Education is Power,

then Empires would crumble

and Tyrants might fall...

--

*the lyric, "you've got to be carefully taught," comes from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, 'South Pacific,' which was frequently banned for discussing topics such as racism and interracial marriage. It was more recently quoted by Lin Manuel-Miranda in 'Hamilton.'

--

2024, Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes. May be shared and reprinted with attribution. Le Anne is a former international human rights worker and peacemaker, prisoner of conscience, and pastor in the Presbyterian Church- PC(USA). She coordinates the Iowa Faith Leadership Network, Neurodiversity-Affirming Congregations, and the Center for Faith and Peacemaking. She resides and raises four children in Iowa, where a series of recent laws, including SF 496, ban books describing sex, LGBTQIA+ content, and other diversity-related content and materials from the public K-12 curriculum, and ban DEI support programs and content from public colleges and universities. Her most recent published work may be found in 'A Liturgy for All Bodies' (Cyclical, 2023).