Why celebrate ‘Pride’?
On 2nd July 2022 thousands of people took to the streets in London to join the Pride parade. This year’s anniversary was significant: not only is it the first time in three years that such an event has taken place (due to Covid restrictions since 2020) but it also marks the 50th anniversary of the first Pride march in the UK. It is a time to celebrate the progress that has been made towards a world where people who identify as LGBTQ+ can be free to be themselves and live their life to the full. It is also a time to recognise that discrimination continues and much remains to be done across the world to defend and protect the rights of all people everywhere.
Recognising Pride at Hampstead Parish Church?
Our vision is: Building an inclusive community of Christian love, faith, witness and action.
We are an Inclusive Church and subscribe to the following statement:
“We believe in inclusive church – a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate.
We will continue to challenge the church where it continues to discriminate against people on grounds of disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality.
We believe in a Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.
What more can we do?
Earlier this year, members of Hampstead Parish Church came together to pray, study and learn about ‘Living in Love and Faith’, through a course of six weekly reflections developed by the Church of England. We discussed difficult subject areas related to identity and sexuality and faith, in a respectful and safe space and without judgement. It was challenging at times, but it was important.
It remains important for us to consider what more we can do to be an inclusive and welcoming church community.
We are proud to be an Inclusive Church in Hampstead. We are proud to celebrate with rainbow-coloured flags. But we recognise the need to continue to work towards social justice for all by continuing to educate ourselves and learn from one another, through our behaviours and interactions with one another, and by being allies to those who are marginalised.
Statement from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for LGBT+ History Month
Across the Church of England this February, many people will be marking LGBT+ History Month.
As we work together to discover what it means to be a diverse church receiving the gift of everyone, our prayer is that this would be a time of truly valuing each other as God’s precious and beloved children. Let us pray that the Spirit of God would stir in us a deeper sense of belonging to each other as the Body of Christ.
We also take this opportunity to lament and reject all prejudice, hatred, oppression, and violence against LGBT+ people. We pray that LGBT+ people around the world would be able to live lives free from fear and find joy in the love of God. Let us commit to building communities in which everyone experiences the unconditional love of God in Christ Jesus.