So Jessi and I did something a little outside the norm for us Saturday: we went to a Pride Parade over in the Riverside neighborhood of Jacksonville. Now, don’t get me wrong; we’re fully affirming of our LGBT friends and neighbors, pro-marriage equality, and fully in favor of LGBT ordination. The “pride” part wasn’t out of the norm for us; it was the “parade” part. My ideal spaces tend to be small conversations with maybe a dozen people around a few bar tables, or even better, a conversation with one or two people off to the side. Larger groups overwhelm me, and with the annual exceptions of Wild Goose and PorchFest, I avoid festivals and concerts. As such, sharing a city block with a few thousand people is a bit out of my comfort zone, but this year, Jessi and I wanted to be there to show our support.

With there being such a large crowd, I was fairly quiet for most of our time there. I hugged a lot of strangers —our church was one of several giving out free hugs—, but I only really had long conversations with people I already knew. Still, I was impressed by the comfort and hospitality on display from bystanders and vendors alike, and the whole gathering had an air of freedom and acceptance. When the parade itself started, I was immediately struck by the procession of businesses. Large groups of people in matching shirts carried banners and handed out rainbow trinkets:
Bank of America supports pride.
Amazon supports pride.
FloridaBlue supports pride.
Baptist Health supports pride.
T-Mobile supports pride.

It got me thinking back to a point my brother made a few years ago: “Corporations have figured out that bigotry is bad for their brands, and they’re changing their policies. Too bad the church hasn’t caught up.” It felt a little surreal clapping for corporations on Saturday, but so long as their hiring practices, office culture, and HR policies match their public stances, I support them.

Churches are a little more complex. A handful turned out for the Pride Parade, but our presence was still something of a surprise for many. I know of at least two pastors (Susan Rogers of The Well at Springfield and Steve Painter from San Marco Church) who were there to provide “Free Pastor Hugs,” and while this surprised quite a few attendees, it was almost always a joyful surprise. If the Church really wants to set the tone, we need more gestures like this and less sitting on the sidelines grumbling about “the culture wars.” With the prominence of the Religious Right and American Evangelicalism, the loudest voices over the past few decades have been pretty hateful, but there’s still hope.
The Church has some catching up to do,
and the Church has some apologies to make,
but the Church also has a lot of love to show.