We’re excited to share our annual update. This is life-giving work and we thank you for being part of it. Will you make a financial contribution today to shape a brighter, more just future? Mail gifts to AllianceQ, P.O. Box 44400, Indianapolis, IN 46244, or donate here.
Even when there are long, dark days, in Advent and beyond, we make room for a holy darkness, we “work the wait,” and we “hope in color.”
We invite you to “color every corner of the world with beauty, hope, healing, and love.” – Colors of Hope: A Devotional Journal from LGBTQ+ Christians
Use these coloring pages as you hope in color. Download a PDF of our coloring pages here. Coloring pages? Coloring pages!
“When Hope Hurts”
Adapted from a sermon by Rev. Luther Young, Jr., (he/him), Moderator
There’s a scene in the movie The Dark Knight Rises where Bane, the villain, subdues Batman and holds him prisoner in a deep pit. The top of the pit is left uncovered so that those imprisoned can see freedom although they cannot obtain it. Bane makes a striking claim, that “there can be no true despair without hope.” At first glance, this phrase seems paradoxical, as the definition of despair is to be without hope. Bane is saying that sometimes seeing a way out of a situation but not being able to reach it hurts more than the situation itself. He’s saying that sometimes hope simply hurts.
Many of us can relate. Sometimes freedom and liberation can seem so close but yet still far away. It feels like our families, our churches, our government, and our political structures take one step forward and five steps backward. Even though we hope for better, at times it feels like our hope is in vain. What do we do when hope hurts?
We supplement hope with trust. We hope and trust and keep the faith. And faith without works is dead. We challenge and dismantle systemic injustices that rob us of wholeness and wellness. We individually and collectively “hope in color.”
Spoiler alert: Batman does not remain imprisoned; he works his way to liberation. In order to get out of the pit, we’ve got to find a way to get out of our feelings and put our faith to work.
Siblings, even when it’s hard to hope, I urge you to keep the faith. We are hoping and working for you and with you. “Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes…”
“Hoping in Color”
A letter from Rev. Melissa Guthrie (she/her), Executive Director + Minister
The past year amplified our need for hope and our ability to hope. We *hope* you’ve read our Chalice Press devotional journal in which August Laperche defines hope as an act of resistance. “To hope is to imagine and shape a new reality: a brighter future, a more just and inclusive world.”
From left: Colors of Hope Co-Creator August Laperche and Contributors Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen and Dr. Renair Amin each featured in Special Access Book Sessions. You can request a recording of the conversations at disicplesallianceq.org/special-access.
We are not passively waiting for a more just world; we are working for it. Virtual Pulpit Supply (VPS) continued in 2022, with the addition of calls to action and conversation starters. In her November VPS message that corresponded with the First Sunday of Advent, Rev. Dr. Lisa Barnett called us to “work the wait.” She reminds us, “God is still actively working in the world and we are called upon to keep living faithfully as Jesus taught us and to engage in this work of transforming and reconciling the world according to God’s sense of justice.”
From left: Colors of Hope Contributor and Retreat Speaker DeShay Jackson, Colors of Hope Retreat communion, workshop, and community photos. At right: Colors of Hope Contributor and Retreat Speaker Rev. Brendan Y. Boone at Christmount.
We are putting your gifts to work, and we thank you for working alongside us. We give thanks for collaboration! Did you read about Green Chalice participating in our retreat? Are you reading the ecumenical Advent Devotional from Holy Dialogues that features queer Disciples? And a sneak peek: In addition to our own workshop, “Kindom Language,” AllianceQ is collaborating with Disciples Justice Ministries for the workshop, “Building Justice for the Whole Kindom,” at General Assembly 2023.
From left: Rev. RJ Robles preaches for VPS, Disciples ministers witness at Poor People’s Campaign, Rev. Sara Nave Fisher facilitates a session with New Church Ministry, Council Leaders gather in person at Camp Christian in Ohio, National Benevolent Association sponsors the Colors of Hope Retreat and Mark Anderson speaks with us.
Holy Darkness, Working the Wait, and Hoping in Color
Cole Arthur Riley is the creator of Black Liturgies and author of This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us. She writes, “Advent is a season where we think about a God who dwelled in the sacred Blackness of a womb before being born into the world at Christmas. It’s a season where we are given space to name our deepest longings, to name the quiet ache that each of us experiences for belonging, healing, and liberation. And we look in hope toward a promise.”
We were already aching on Transgender Day of Remembrance, November 20. The list of deaths and violence lengthened with the tragedy at Club Q in Colorado Springs and many of us feel fragile and fearful. When I began serving AllianceQ in 2019, the Rev. Dr. Mark Johnston described our work as matters of life and death. I thought he was exaggerating. Three years later I hold too many stories of lives lost and lives wounded — by literal weapons and weaponized messages from faith communities and people of faith. I also hold stories of renewed hope. We are doing holy work.
“I learned what it means to be authentic in the midst of a group of folks who are not at all ashamed to share the wholeness of themselves.”
“Life-changing, transforming, inspiring, empowering, and energizing were all a part of my four-day experience! Indescribable!”
This feedback about the Colors of Hope Retreat illustrates the impact of your gifts. Donations to the Alliance sustain our trainings for the welcoming journey and help us provide pastoral care to LGBTQ+ individuals and… and… and… This is life-giving work and we thank you for being part of it.
Thank you.
Will you make a financial contribution today to shape a brighter, more just future? Mail gifts to AllianceQ, P.O. Box 44400, Indianapolis, IN 46244, or donate here.
Peace, Hope, Love, Joy.
Affirmation, Love, Liberation for ALL.
Join us for special activities in 2023.
These groups offer space for connection and conversation growing out of the themes in the devotional journal Colors of Hope. Not a formal book study. Not a business meeting. We *hope* you have a copy of the book but the flexible structure allows every body to participate with or without the book, with or without reading the week’s suggested content.
With shared facilitation, each week’s conversation will be led by different individuals who highlight something from the reading and select one or two of the book’s reflection questions/calls to action for discussion. Do you want to facilitate one of the conversations? Let us know!
The Rev. Sara Nave-Fisher hosts the Monday morning Community Group and the Rev. Tyler Heston hosts the Thursday evening Community Group. Your hosts will provide a centering and some connection points throughout the series. Groups will unfold organically. Bring your beautiful rainbow self! Sign up for community groups. Registration is free.