Reimagining God the Father

Did the artist intend to show a gay Father God? God’s halo is a pink triangle, an LGBT symbol, in “Heavenly Father,” a stained glass window at St. Virgil Church, Morris Plains, NJ. Photo by Loci B. Lenar © 2010. 

Reimagining God the Father may lift the spirits of some LGBT people and our allies today (June 19), which happens to be both Father’s Day and Trinity Sunday.

Can God the Father be as gentle and caring as a mother? Is He like a gay father? Do LGBT people have unique ways of redefining fatherhood that can enlighten others? I have no definite answers, but I share the following resources on alternative and even queer ways to re-envision God the Father.

Today, on Father’s Day, I dare to consider the fatherhood of God again -- by reimagining what it means to be God the Father. I seek a Father God who is as warm and nurturing as a mother… or a gay father. Trinity Sunday is also a good time to re-evaluate God the Father because it celebrates the doctrine of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or, in inclusive terms, Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit.)

Many people, myself included, have turned away from the traditionally masculine Father God who is cold, distant, strict and domineering. The concept of God the Father may be hopelessly poisoned for some people who were abused by fathers or father figures. I honor the need to find other images to build a loving relationship with the divine… and the need to find empowering new models of sacred fatherhood.

I came to spiritual maturity at a time when “God the Father” was a dirty word in my church. We needed liberation from the old male-dominated, top-down religion that oppressed women and LGBT people. We read feminist theologians such as Mary Daly, who wrote in Beyond God the Father, “If God is male, then male is God. The divine patriarch castrates women as long as he is allowed to live on in the human imagination.”

At my church we took the offensive and cut out the Father God from our Bibles and hymnals. Instead we used “inclusive language.” Male words were replaced with neutral words, so “Father” became “Parent” or “Creator.” Once in a while we allowed “Father” to return, but only if He was balanced by “Mother.”

After more than a decade of inclusive language, I find myself intrigued by God the Father for several reasons. First, the genderless Creator God has begun to seem cold and distant too. Female images of God or Goddess aren’t enough for me. And there are still plenty of flesh-and-blood fathers in need of spiritual role models.

Then there’s Jesus, my inspiration in so many ways. He often spoke of God as his father. When he prayed he called God “Abba,” an intimate, affectionate Aramaic word that is more like “Daddy” than “Father.” His loving father-son connection with God encourages me to look for new ways of understanding God the Father in hopes of deepening my own relationship with God.

Along the way I found the following materials that reimagine God the Father:
Family photos of gay fathers with their children
New Hymn: Warm Father God
Ancient Hymn: Milk of Father God
Native American Father Spirit art
and queer visions from literature, art and theology.

Gay fathers

Gay fathers are on the forefront of redefining fatherhood. I hope that their photos here will inspire people to see God the Father in liberating new ways.

I had a terrible time finding images to illustrate a nurturing God the Father. It proved to me the need to “reimagine” fatherhood itself, regardless of religious beliefs about God the Father. Finally I remembered the family photos of some loving gay fathers who are friends of the Jesus in Love Blog. They are two different a gay couples that adopted children. I contacted them and both families agreed to share their photos here.

A South African family with two dads! Michael Worsnip, left, and Leon Putzier are the fathers of Gabriel, 7, and Joshua, 9. They adopted their sons at the ages of 3 months and 5 months respectively. Michael has posted the story of their adoption on his blog Hell’s Teeth, where he also writes about LGBT religious art and much more.

Father-son bonding with Michael Worsnip, Gabriel and Joshua.

An Iowa family with two dads! Jon Trouten, back center, and his husband Mark Holbrook with their sons D’Angelo and Leslie. They are adoptive parents of one son and legal guardians of the other son. Jon writes about family life at Jon’s Blog. Among my favorite posts are:

Coming out to my son (This will make you laugh.)
Mother’s Day when you have no mother

Hymn: Warm Father God

Gender stereotypes about God are broken in “Bring Many Names,” a hymn by Brian Wren, one of the world’s best known contemporary hymn writers. This verse presents a fresh view of God the Father:

Warm father God, hugging every child,
Feeling all the strains of human living,
Caring and forgiving, till we’re reconciled:
Hail and Hosanna, warm father God!

Bonus: Other verses shatter age and gender stereotypes by singing the praises of “strong mother God” and my personal favorite, “old, aching God.” Click here for all the lyrics. Click here to hear it on video.

“Bring Many Names” appears in many modern hymnals. Wren is the author of “Hymns for Today.”

Hymn: Milk of Father God

God the Father is explicitly male AND female in a second-century hymn. Check out this mind-blowing excerpt from Ode 19 of the Odes to Solomon:

A cup of milk was offered to me,
and I drank it in the sweetness of the Lord’s kindness.
The Son is the cup,
and the Father is He who was milked;
and the Holy Spirit is She who milked him;
Because His breasts were full,
and it was undesirable that His milk should be ineffectually released.
The Holy Spirit opened Her bosom,
and mixed the milk of the two breasts of the Father…
The womb of the Virgin took it,
and she received conception and gave birth.

This appears in The Earliest Christian Hymnbook: The Odes of Solomon, translated by James Charlesworth, or online at this link.

Native American Great Father

The Trinity
by Father John Giuliani

What if God the Father is Native American, Black, Asian or Latino? If the Creator is going to be an old man, I’d rather see him as dark-skinned sometimes.

I especially like the Native American visions of the Creator as the Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka, Keeper of the Sky, and so on. Somehow they bring out a wiser, gentler side of the Father.

Father John Giuliani unites indigenous American and Christian imagery in “The Trinity,” shown here by permission The Great Father appears with a full headdress of falcon feathers in a halo of light. His open hands deliver the Son, a Christ figure who is a Sioux warrior. The Holy Spirit hovers between them in the form of a falcon, completing the Trinity. The Father, with his long, white hair flowing, seems androgynous and humble… a much-needed vision for our time.

Giuliani is known for creating Christian icons with Native American symbols, expanding the concept of holiness and honoring Native American Indians as the original spiritual presence on this land. His work is a prophetic sign celebrating the reconciliation of native and Christian peoples. Giuliani is also a Catholic priest and founder of the Benedictine Grange, a contemplative monastic community in Connecticut.

Charles Frizzell is another artist who does Native American spiritual art, including a Father-God figure called “Keeper of the Sky.” Click here and scroll down to see it on his website.

Father as Twin

In my “Jesus in Love” novels, Jesus starts out perceiving God the Father as an old man, but as Jesus ages they become identical. Here is an excerpt from Jesus in Love: At the Cross in which Jesus describes his prayer time in Gethsemane, shortly before his arrest:

“I raised my head and saw my Father sitting on a nearby log. When I was a child I thought He looked ancient and care-worn. He didn’t change, but I did. I had grown to look just like Him. We looked more like twins than a father and son. I went over and knelt at His feet. He steadied me with his kind gaze, then handed me the now-familiar gold cup….”

Queer Trinity?

The Trinity
by Douglas Blanchard

Jesus and God also appear to be the same age in “The Trinity” (at left) from “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision” by Douglas Blanchard.  Instead of Father and Son, they seem more like Lover and Beloved, which is another interpretation of the Trinity.  Click here for more about this painting.

The Trinity has inspired queer theologians to question God’s gender. The Holy Spirit is often presented as the female person of the Trinity, so that seems to make God into a transgender, omnigender or genderqueer -- not fitting the standard “male” and “female” duality. The following resources offer more queer theological reflections on the Trinity:

Celebrate the Feast of the (Queer) Holy Trinity at queeringthechurch.com

Gavin D’Costa’s chapter “The Queer Trinity” in Queer Theology: Rethinking the Western Body

The Queer God by Marcella Althaus-Reid.

The prayer formerly known as
“Our Father”

I close this reflection with a new version of the prayer that’s usually called the “Lord’s Prayer” or the “Our Father,” based on the first words of the standard translation. In inclusive language, we called it “the prayer that Jesus taught.” This refreshing version was written by Yvonne Aburrow (also known as Yewtree), a friend of the Jesus in Love Blog. She is a Unitarian and a Wiccan who blogs on spirituality at The Dance of the Elements.

O Genderless Engenderer,
Flame of life at the heart of all things,
Holy, holy, holy are your names.
Your republic of informed hearts is always within us and around us.
Your mysterious way unfolds before us
as matter and spirit dance together to create life.
May the finite tell its stories to the infinite
and may the infinite lend its everlasting peace to the finite.
May our hearts be open to forgiveness given and received,
and may we move accurately in harmony with all
and remain present in the now.
The republic of heaven on earth is all and each of us
reverberating with glory and power
in infinite space-time.
Amen.

LGBT Pride Prayer: We Recommit Ourselves to God

“GLBT Heritage” stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Designed by Ken Scott, 1993

The triangle made of fabric serves as a visual and tactile symbol of our brokenness and connectedness as a church. World War II concentration camp prisoners identified as homosexuals, the “third sex,” were forced to wear the triangle. Like the cross, the triangle once symbolized oppression and now symbolizes liberation. Today we recommit ourselves to liberating our church to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people everywhere.
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This prayer appears in “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations. It comes from “A Service of Worship and Empowerment,” a collaborative liturgy that was celebrated in more than 50 communities across the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1993 in solidarity with the commissioning as evangelist of lesbian minister Rev. Jane Spahr by Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY.
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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. A new LGBT pride prayer will be posted here every Sunday in June. Click here for the whole series.
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About the image: A pink triangle with two incomplete overlapping circles represents a couple whose relationship is not restricted by gender in “GLBT Heritage,” one of 12 stained glass windows designed by Honolulu artist Ken Scott for MCC San Francisco. This window was donated by Lloyd Burton and Michael Berry in memory of our gay brothers and lesbian sisters who have gone before us.

The 12-window project is called “Heavenly Wind” and is an abstraction representing God's breath flowing through the sanctuary and congregation. Each pair of windows incorporates a color from the rainbow which is a symbol of pride, unity, and celebration in the LGBT Communities. A service of dedication was held in the MCC-SF sanctuary on Nov. 21, 1993. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.

LGBT Pride Prayer: We stand inside your church

“Diversity” stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Designed by Ken Scott, 1993

By Malcolm Boyd

Christ, as lesbians and gay men we stand inside your church and know a wholeness that can benefit it. We learned long ago that we must regard the lilies of the field, putting our trust in you.

Pressured to hide our identities and gifts, we have served you with an unyielding, fierce, vulnerable love inside the same church that condemned us.

Carefully taught that we must feel self-loathing, nevertheless we learned integrity and dignity and how to look into your face and laugh with grateful joy, Jesus.

Although we have suffered a long and continuing torture, we assert a stubborn, unshakable faith in your holy justice.

Negativism was drummed into us as thoroughly as if we were sheet metal. We learned what it is to be misunderstood, perceived as alien, even sometimes hated. Yet, because of your grace and love, we witness to the fullness and beauty of all human creation, including ours, in your image.

We are alive and well and stand inside your church. Bless us, Christ, to your service.


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Malcolm Boyd is a bestselling author and gay elder who has been an Episcopal priest for more than 50 years. His books include “Are You Running with Me, Jesus?” This prayer appears in the interdenominational collection “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations.
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A rainbow symbolizes acceptance of all people and LGBT pride in “Diversity,” one of 12 stained glass windows designed by Honolulu artist Ken Scott for MCC San Francisco. This is a memorial window for Daven Balcomb, Troy Naranjo, and Sweet Pea.

The 12-window project is called “Heavenly Wind” and is an abstraction representing God's breath flowing through the sanctuary and congregation. Each pair of windows incorporates a color from the rainbow which is a symbol of pride, unity, and celebration in the LGBT Communities. A service of dedication was held in the MCC-SF sanctuary on Nov. 21, 1993. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.
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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. A new LGBT pride prayer will be posted here every Sunday in June. Click here for the whole series.

LGBT Pride Prayer: O wildly inclusive God

“Peace” stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Designed by Ken Scott, 1993

O wildly inclusive God, who loves all of the beautiful rainbow of human sexual orientation, remind us that we have a very practical Trinity--one who gives life, one who redeems life, one who stays with us forever. Hear our groans, Holy Spirit, particularly to make a home in all churches that call themselves the body of Christ: for bisexuals, gay man, heterosexuals, lesbian women, and transgendered persons. At times we are overwhelmed and hurt by this angry exclusion. At these times let us realize how much more hurt you are. (Pause for silent prayer.) Come,Holy Spirit, come! Free your people Alleluia! Amen.
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This prayer appears in “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations. It comes from “A Service of Worship and Empowerment,” a collaborative liturgy that was celebrated in more than 50 communities across the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1993 in solidarity with the commissioning as evangelist of lesbian minister Rev. Jane Spahr by Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, NY.
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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. A new LGBT pride prayer will be posted here every Sunday in June. Click here for the whole series.
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About the image: A descending dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit in “Peace,” one of 12 stained glass windows designed by Honolulu artist Ken Scott for MCC San Francisco. It was commissioned by Kevin Larrabee.

The 12-window project is called “Heavenly Wind” and is an abstraction representing God's breath flowing through the sanctuary and congregation. Each pair of windows incorporates a color from the rainbow which is a symbol of pride, unity, and celebration in the LGBT Communities. A service of dedication was held in the MCC-SF sanctuary on Nov. 21, 1993. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.

What’s your favorite LGBT hymn?

“Joy” stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco. Designed by Ken Scott, 1993

A festival of sacred music and texts by gays and lesbians held in 2010 for LGBT Pride Month  inspired me to make a list of my own favorites in the genre of queer hymns:

“Singing for Our Lives” by Holly Near, 1979
It seemed like we sang this song at every single LGBT Christian worship service held in the 1980s. It was our anthem, like “We Shall Overcome” was the anthem of the civil rights movement. But now one has to search hard on the Internet to find the lyrics that inspired a generation of LGBT-rights activists:

We are a gentle, angry people
And we are singing, singing for our lives.

The full text is online at HollyNear.com

Hear Holly sing it on YouTube:




”For Those Tears I Died (Come to the Water)” by Marsha Stevens, 1969.
Marsha wrote this famous contemporary Christian song when she was 16, long before she came out as a lesbian. It became one of the best known Christian folk songs of the decade, appearing in almost every evangelical songbook in the country. Her lyrics have universal appeal, but they come from lesbian teen angst:

I felt every teardrop
When in darkness you cried.
And I strove to remind you,
For those tears I died.

Hear Marsha sing it on YouTube in 1971 with her group Children of the Day





“We are the Church Alive” by David Pelletier and Jack Hoggatt-St. John, 1980.
This powerful hymn was a congregational favorite when I was on the clergy staff of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco (MCC-SF) in the 1980s. I’ll never forget hearing a church full of men with AIDS, back when there was no effective treatment, sing out,

We are the church alive,
Our faith has set us free;
No more enslaved by guilt and shame,
We live our liberty.

The full text is online at the Conjubilant with Song Blog.


“I'm Not Afraid Anymore” by Michael Mank, 1972.
This early MCC hymn made a big impression on me as a young lesbian fresh out of the closet. I was still recovering from the fears that had made me hide my sexual orientation. I got stronger every time I joined the congregation in singing:

One time my soul was grieved, Grace was denied to me,
But then Christ’s message of love I heard, now I have been set free.
I’m not afraid anymore!
I’m not afraid anymore!
God’s message is for all the world,
Salvation is for everyone,
What’s bound on earth is bound in heav’n.
Praise to God! I’m not afraid anymore!

The full text appears in my book “Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations.”


“Our God is Like an Eagle (When Israel camped in Sinai)” (Music: WEBB) Words by Lawrence Bernier, 1974.


Women and men alike love this early MCC hymn that breaks gender stereotypes about God. Many people can still recall the impact they felt when they first heard the liberating words:

Our God is not a woman;
our God is not a man.
Our God is both and neither;
our God is I WHO AM.

Click here for all the lyrics.

“Once We Were Not A People” (traditional English tune KING'S LYNN) Words by J. Thomas Sopko, 1987.

Unlike most of the songs I’ve listed, this hymn actually dares to use the words “gay and lesbian.” Of course, nowadays we’d have to add “bisexual and transgender” or go with “LGBT.” These inspiring lyrics came true when I stood with hundreds during worship and sang,

Once we were not a people,
God’s people now are we.
A gay and lesbian people,
A new community…
A gentle, loving people
With justice as our aim;
A gay and lesbian people
United in Christ’s name.

Postscript: While researching this post, I discovered that the patriotic hymn “America the Beautiful” was written by a lesbian! Her name is Katherine Lee Bates. I wish I had known about her when I was forced to sing her song every day while growing up in the Iowa public schools!

So what’s YOUR favorite GLBT hymn? Please leave a comment.



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About the image: Musical notes represent the uplifting spirit of music in “Joy,” one of 12 stained glass windows designed by Honolulu artist Ken Scott for MCC San Francisco. It was donated by Laura Kinley in honor of Alison Salter, who said “Just go for the music!” and Bob Crocker who said, “Let’s stand up and sing like we know what we’re doing!”

The 12-window project is called “Heavenly Wind” and is an abstraction representing God's breath flowing through the sanctuary and congregation. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.

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“A Heart to Praise Our God,” a festival of sacred music and texts by gays and lesbians, was held June 13, 2010 in Berkeley, California.  It was sponsored by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion, Epworth United Methodist Church, New Spirit Community Church, and the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.

LGBT Pride Prayer: We have always been, and we will always be

“House of Prayer for All People”

Stained glass window at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco.
Created by Little/Raidl Design Studios

Gathering Words

by Rev. Lea Brown

All: In every time, in every place, among every people on Earth, we have always been, and we will always be.

One: We are mariposa and marimacha in Spanish, Finnochio in Italian, Mahu in Tahitian, Vom Anderen Ufer in German, Nadle in Navajo, Winkte in Sioux, Agokwa in Chippewa, and the deity Ardhanaarishvara in Hindi.

All: In every time, in every place, among every people on Earth, we have always been, and we will always be.

One: We are the queers and the fairies, the bulldykes and bulldaggers, all names of derision we have reclaimed by our power. We are the priests and priestesses, the shamans and witches, the sorcerers of Spirit who bridge many worlds.

All: In every time, in every place, among every people on Earth, we have always been, and we will always be.

One: We are the word-bearers and word-sculptors, creators of beauty and bearers of justice. We are Sappho and Apollo, Queen Christina and Joan of Arc. We are Michelangelo and Audre Lorde, David and Jonathan, Leslie Feinberg and Oscar Wilde. We are Walt Whitman and Bayard Rustin, Judy Grahn and Adrienne Rich, we are each and every person at MCC-SF.

All: In every time, in every place, among every people on Earth, we have always been, and we will always be.

One: We are the people of purple, drag queens and drag kings, transfolks and genderqueers, amazons and eunuchs. We are Femmes who wear leather and proud faggots who wear lace, we are the friends of Dorothy, and the flaming friends of God.

All: In every time, in every place, among every people on Earth, we have always been, and we will always be.


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Rev. Lea Brown is pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, a home for queer spirituality. In May 2010 she received her Doctor of Ministry degree from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA.
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The “House of Prayer for All People” window pictured above was created by Roy E. Little and Jim Raidl of Little/Raidl Design Studios in Cazadero, CA.

“The skylight consists of 25 glass panes incorporating symbols from world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Latin and Native American spiritual traditions, and African tribal religions, along with LGBT spirituality,” noted Michael Haigler, who coordinated the design and installation of all the stained windows in the church.

The center section symbolizes MCC's Christian tradition in different textures of clear glass with symbols of the Coptic Cross, Taoism, Islam and Judaism. The four corners are inspired by Tibetan designs and symbols of woman and man, updated with the GLBT symbols of a pink triangle and a Lambda.

The window is located at the front of the church at 150 Eureka St. in San Francisco. Click here for an online gallery of MCC-SF’s stained glass windows. Special thanks to Lynn Jordan of MCC-SF for background info on the windows.
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June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month. A new LGBT pride prayer will be posted here every Sunday in June. Click here for the whole series.