Bishop Cowden's Pride Message

Dear Friends in Christ in the Diocese of West Virginia,

As we enter the month of June, widely celebrated as Pride Month, I offer particular greetings to members of the LGBTQ+ community.

I give thanks for the faithfulness of our LGBTQ+ members throughout the life of the Church, even when we haven’t been faithful to you and even when we have failed you. Throughout our history, the Church has often fallen short of God’s command to love our neighbors as ourselves. In The Episcopal Church, we have often failed to live up to our Baptismal commitment to respect the dignity of every human being. This is particularly true as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community. For too long, the Church has forced you into silence and secrecy, pretending you did not exist or asking you to hide who God made you to be.

The Church would not be what it is without the life, work, and witness of our LGBTQ+ members. You are our pray-ers and our poets, our altar guild members and our musicians, our clergy and our outreach ministers. You are in the pews offering your selves and your service to God week in and week out, year after year, for which I am most grateful.

God’s Church is poorer because we have pushed away and forced out so many of God’s beloved children through hatred and bigotry. We are committed to seeking reconciliation when possible and celebrating all members of the Body of Christ, affirming the diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations found in our Church because we are continually enriched by the life and witness of our LGBTQ+ members.

Faithfully yours,
+Matthew Cowden