Rev. Cody J. Sanders will lecture on the topic of “Faithfully Queer: Re-Storying LGBTQ+ Religious & Spiritual Experience."
The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, the Gender & LGBTQIA Center (GLC) and the Spirit and Pride Initiative are hosting the Rev. Cody J. Sanders for a lecture and a series of pilot ally training sessions around the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identity and spirituality.
The lecture, entitled “Faithfully Queer: Re-Storying LGBTQ+ Religious & Spiritual Experience,” will take place Wednesday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in the McBride Gathering Space.
The questions asked about LGBTQ+ lives and practices of religion, spirituality, and faith often presume a dichotomy between living out the fullness of our sexual and gender identities and faithfully practicing our religious and spiritual traditions. This lecture will model more expansive questions about queer and trans lives and religious/spiritual praxis in order to fuel imagination for life and faith beyond the restricting dictates of the status quo.
“We are excited to welcome Reverend Cody Sanders to Elon for his multi-day visit. Cody is a nationally recognized scholar and spiritual leader and will bring his wealth of knowledge and experiences to our campus and for his lecture. Cody’s lecture is important to our work in the Gender and LGBTQIA Center as we continue our work of supporting students at their various intersecting identities,” said Luis Garay, director of the GLC.
The lecture will also explore stories of queer faithfulness at the margins that serve as examples of wisdom and courage, tenacity and creativity.
Sanders is the American Baptist Chaplain at Harvard University and president of the Harvard Chaplains, as well as advisor for LGBTQ+ Affairs in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at MIT and the pastor of Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the author of several books including, “Christianity, LGBTQ Suicide, and the Souls of Queer Folk” and “A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth.” Sanders teaches spiritual care as affiliated assistant professor of pastoral theology and chaplaincy studies at Chicago Theological Seminary and as a faculty member at the Center for Chaplaincy Studies.
This lecture is sponsored by the Truitt Center, Gender & LGBTQIA Center (GLC), and the Spirit and Pride Initiative. The Spirit and Pride initiative is a collaborative, grant-funded initiative between the Truitt Center and the GLC advised by Rev. Julie Tonnesen and Luis Garay. For more information about Spirit and Pride, click here.