Pride Festival 2023 – Reflections – Faith Dickerson
As part of the Little Fork Church Vestry, I voted for us to participate in the 1st Pride Festival in Culpeper on June 4.We ordered a banner showing our logo and sharing that who we are comes from our Baptismal Covenant’s last line—‘to respect the dignity of all people’. Over the course of 4 hours, those of us present—Stacy, Joel, Chris Stockton and I engaged in deep and meaningful conversations with many people. Some were part of the LGBTQ+ community, some were parents and allies of the community, and some were just supportive community members. With attendance of over 1200 people, Little Fork’s message of being a welcoming and affirming environment was shared with folks from a much broader geography than just Culpeper.
For me personally, it was probably the most engaging 4 hours of ministry time I have ever had. I shared about who we are as a church, listened to people share and weep about how church has let them down, how they were surprised to see any church present at the function, and we offered a variety of opportunities for folks to engage with Little Fork. We talked about concerts we are having on campus, but outside the church this summer, about watching us live stream each week, and about how we are open to what people who have been ‘burned’ by organized religion might want to gently consider opening themselves up to some spiritual life again.
Little Fork Church continues to look for ways to be a Chapel of Ease and respite to the community. The connections made as the first church to have a booth at the 1st ever Pride Festival is one more way we can be a light in a world that needs to know the light is there for all people.
Faith Dickerson