A Word about Pride from Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley
Click here or on the image below to view a message by video from Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley about Pride Month. A transcript of the message is available below the video.
A transcript of the video message above is as follows:
Beloved in Christ,
As we celebrate Pride this month, I want to offer a brief word to our diocesan family.
Pride can mean many different things. In Scripture, pride sometimes names the temptation to place ourselves at the center of the story—to imagine that we are self-sufficient and have no need of God or of one another.
But there is another kind of pride. A healthy pride. A holy pride. It is the quiet confidence that comes from knowing who you are and whose you are. As Christians, our deepest identity is found not in any label we carry, but in our baptism. In baptism, God claims us as beloved children and joins us to one another in the Body of Christ.
During Pride Month, many LGBTQ+ people celebrate the hard-won freedom to live honestly and openly as the people God created them to be. For many, that journey has not been easy. It has often required courage, perseverance, and faith.
As Episcopalians, we are guided by the promises of the Baptismal Covenant. We promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being. Those promises call us not simply to tolerate one another, but to celebrate one another as beloved children of God.
In a time when our society is often marked by division, fear, and suspicion, the Church is called to be something different: a community where people encounter the reconciling love of God and discover that there is room for all of us at Christ’s table.
This month, I invite us to give thanks for the gifts, ministries, and witness of our LGBTQ+ siblings in Christ, and to recommit ourselves to the work of building communities where every person knows they are beloved by God.
May the love of Christ bind us together in compassion, humility, and hope.
The Rt. Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley
Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina