This is not satire, though it may look like it at first glance. It is reclamation—through irreverence, through parody, through camp. The invocation of “church” here is not meant to mock for mockery’s sake, but to mock as a form of unmaking, of disarming the structures that have used holiness as a weapon. This is a queer act of reappropriation, one that delights in blasphemy not because it rejects meaning, but because it refuses the terms on which meaning has been historically imposed.
Reclamation is rarely tidy. Sometimes it wears sequins, sometimes it cackles, sometimes it dances on altars not to desecrate but to transform. The ‘Church of LGBTQ+’ is not an imitation of religion, nor a parody in the shallow sense—it is a reworking of the symbolic architecture that shaped us, hurt us, and yet left behind tools we might still wish to use. Ritual. Assembly. Myth. Communal joy. Transcendence without dogma. Sacredness without obedience.
To reclaim “church” is not to recreate its hierarchies, but to queer them into absurdity—to hollow out their authority and fill the space with chosen family, joyful irreverence, and defiant belonging. There is mockery here, yes, but the mockery is a method, not a message. It is a way of refusing solemnity where solemnity served violence, and offering instead something more exuberant, more unruly, more alive. This is not satire—it is a sacred undoing.
So when I am asked, “Are you serious? Is this a ‘real’ Church?” my answer is that this project is entirely serious, and this Church is as real as any other. What is it that makes a religion “real”, if not that religions attempt to suffuse their world with meaning, doing so on their own terms and not the terms that are imposed by some other community or ideology? I have established this Church to queer religious narratives, center non-cishet gender identities and sexual orientations, reject cisheteronormativity within sacred spaces, and create a radically inclusive communal space for all LGBTQ+ people and their allies.
We don’t take mythology too seriously (see our creed), but we do think that many religious myths need a good queering. We borrow from many religious traditions, but the two that I have the most familiarity with are Christianity and Buddhism. So, those two mythologies will have more prominence. Still, although we freely use – and adapt – other religions’ mythologies, this Church is not explicitly Christian, or anything else for that matter. It is its own religious tradition.
Major Themes of Our Religion
- Welcoming spirit
- Beautiful brokenness
- Humility
- Mundane over the sacred
- Celebration of life
- Justice and Mercy
- Queering religious myths
- Smashing hierarchies
We strive to make the world better through radical justice and mercy. Through our everyday actions, we can make this world more fair. We also emphasize the Socratic ethos of humility, especially epistemic humility: acknowledging that we know very little and should not be dogmatic. We find meaning in the mundane, not the sacred. Our everyday lived experiences are what give our life meaning and enrich our lives, not faraway Gods and spirits and magic. We treasure and celebrate life and everything in it that brings happiness. We embrace diversity and are slow to judge others, always seeking to understand rather than to condemn. Even so, we will not hesitate to defend the vulnerable against the powerful. Through toleration, community, and understanding we find strength.
Church Structure
At this point, our religion is rather small. We, in fact, have only one registered member. We do not keep membership lists, though, and anyone is welcome at any of our events and gatherings. Anyone may join our religion simply by calling themself a member of the Church of LGBTQ+. We do not tithe or ask for money, and if someone welcomes us, we welcome them. I am the leader/founder/minister of the Church of LGBTQ+ My title is Mundanus. As the “face” of the Church of LGBTQ+, the Mundanus shall forever use the pronouns they/them/theirs when acting in the official capacity as Mundanus.
Our Creed
#1. I do not know whether there are any gods or spirits or whatever, and neither do you.
#2. Feel free to speculate when you do not know something, but don’t take your speculation too seriously. You could be wrong, and certainty stifles the spirit of inquiry on which all knowledge depends.
#3. When someone claims to have knowledge about matters for which there is no certain evidence, be extremely suspicious. This especially goes for people who tell you that this knowledge has been divinely revealed.
#4. So far as I know, God has not authored any books. If someone tells you that they know of a book authored by God, see #3. People often like to stamp their own ideas with the imprimatur of God to give their ideas more weight.
#5. Many people want to know what happens when we die because we are all going to die and few relish that thought. The truth is, we don’t know the answer to that question, but it’s ok to hope that it isn’t the end. It’s not ok to threaten people with eternal punishment if they don’t see things your way.
#6. Children are people too. And just because you are their parent doesn’t mean you own them. It’s not ok to hurt or threaten them either. It’s not ok to deny them an education. Teach them how to think, not what to think. It’s ok for your child to believe differently from you. And, like all people, it’s ok for them to make mistakes. They don’t exist to fulfill your dreams. Work for your own dreams, don’t live vicariously through them.
#7. Strive for justice in this world. Try to leave this world a more just place than you found it.
#8. Insist that your leaders be just. But do not think that you have a monopoly on good ideas about how to achieve a better world.
#9. Practice empathy and kindness. However, that doesn’t mean you should let people walk all over you or others.
#10. It’s ok to be wrong. It doesn’t mean you are stupid, it just means that learning is a lifelong project. Embrace the fact that you are sometimes wrong and take it as an opportunity to learn rather than digging in your heels when you are wrong.
#11. Read every day. Approach your world with a sense of wonder.
#12. Realize that this world is a morally complicated place. Cartoon villains and superheroes are fictions that appeal to our notions of “good” and “evil” but real life isn’t like a fairy tale. Resist the tendency to moralize because usually the “simple” moral answer is just ignoring all the many facets of complex issues.
#13. Your ingroup isn’t special. You aren’t better than anyone else. Like everyone else you are just an ape living on an isolated rock in a far flung corner of a small sized galaxy. Maintain perspective. The universe doesn’t revolve around you.
#14. Eschew nationalism like the disease that it is. See #13. You don’t have the right to bully other peoples and take their resources, nor to tell them how to live their lives. I don’t care how many drone bombs your country has. Your nation isn’t better than anyone else’s.
#15. Dismantle hierarchies. See #7 and #13. Entrenched systems where some have power based on their identities and others are vulnerable (hierarchies) need to be smashed.
#16. It takes ten years of intensive training to become an expert in any field. You are not an expert because you read an article online or watched a documentary. Have some humility for chrissakes.
#17. “I don’t know, to be honest” is almost always the correct answer
#18. We share this world with many other creatures. It’s their world too. They have as much right to be here as we do and we should not destroy ecosystems. We do not have rights to all the resources of this planet: we must leave enough for other creatures and future life, and must tread carefully on this – the only planet that we know of that can sustain life.
This creed has not been divinely revealed. Rather, it has been terrestrially revealed through the rite of reflection. The rite of reflection is available to everyone, and is thus superior to divine revelation. By practicing the rite of reflection, every human being is capable of seeing these eighteen great truths.
Our Practices
- The rite of reflection
- The rite of communion
- The rite of congress
- The rite of joining
- The rite of abortion
- The rite of transition
- The rite of fellowship
- The rite of comfort
- The practice of living wage
- The practice of universal healthcare
We also celebrate many holidays, but the Festival of Saturnalia – in mid-December – is especially enjoyed because it reminds us that human hierarchies are socially constructed, and that what can be made can also be unmade.
FAQ’s
Do you believe in God?
Undoubtedly, some of us do. Others do not. The Mundanus teaches that no one can know whether there is a God or not. But more than that, it is an irrelevant question. The only thing that matters, for creatures like us, is what kind of experiences we can have in our world, and seeking to create a world that enriches more lives in the here and now.
Why has the Mundanus chosen that title?
It is common for religious leaders to choose pretentious titles like “Reverend” that imply the pretense that the office holder is worthy of more respect than the typical person. But in keeping with the philosophy that no one is better than anyone else and that the beliefs that our religion espouses are perfectly ordinary wisdom that everyone has access to through reflection, the Mundanus has chosen a title that celebrates their ordinariness.
Some of your religious rites seem normal, but some seem sort of odd. How did you choose these rites?
We have eight rites that we are enjoined to do. Some are to be done on a daily basis, and some are rites that may only be done occasionally or perhaps not at all. They are designed to infuse our lives with meaning by taking a piece of “the good life” and subjecting it to intentionality. We believe that when we think about what we do and live our lives intentionally, then the outcomes typically turn out better than when we are going through these same activities without any direction. The rites represent important parts of the good life, namely:
- Reflection: our duty to learn, and to think rationally
- Communion: our relationship to food (both within and without the social context)
- Congress: our sexual lives
- Joining: our romantic relationships
- Abortion: our reproductive conduct
- Transition: our sexual and gender identities
- Fellowship: our relationship with friends
- Comfort: our duty both to provide material and emotional support to others and to ask for it for ourselves when we need it.
Part of the point of making these rites is to emphasize that these are all social activities; even when we do them alone, they still have communal significance. No one is an island. The Mundanus is suspicious of the hyper-individuality which has come to be expressed in modern society. Although we respect and admire the beautiful diversity of expression, we believe that such beauty is amplified when shared through our social groups.
Ok. But doesn’t “Congress” and “Joining” and “Our reproductive conduct” belong together?
That is a patriarchal idea that many of us may not share. Modern society created the “nuclear family” that intertwined these ideas of love, sex, and reproduction. But these are separate ideas, as LGBTQ+ people know quite well. And many of us feel that the nuclear family has harmed society rather than helping it.
Consider an asexual person. They may desire a long-term relationship (asexual is not necessarily aromantic). But it would be a relationship without sex. Or what about single parent families or co-parenting families where reproduction is desired but not a lifelong relationship with a spouse? What about child-free couples that wish to have long-term relationships that have permanency and sexual fulfillment, but not raise children? Or what about a single person who desires neither a long term relationship nor children, but desires a fulfilling sex life? It seems best to disentangle these distinct features of “the good life”.
Abortion? How can you make abortion a rite? Why not call it “family planning” or something less controversial?
For many good reasons. First, is that we believe in intentionality in all of one’s actions, but especially in the act of parenthood. Bringing a new life into this world should always be an intentional act. Creating a new life is not a decision to be taken lightly. It creates deep, lifelong obligations on the one who chooses to do it, and it would be immoral to bring a life into the world if one could not ensure its proper care. Since abortion is the last opportunity to avoid parenthood if one is not able to be a parent, we thought that we should enshrine this act in our rites and practices. People who have planned their pregnancy do not need reminded that it’s morally ok to keep the child; people who require an abortion may indeed need reassurance that it’s morally ok to exercise that option. Second, we believe that once a person has decided through reflection on their circumstances that they need an abortion, that it now becomes a moral duty to have the abortion. What would it mean to say, “well, it’s really for the best that I terminate this pregnancy, but I’m not going to”? That sounds much like saying, “this is the right thing to do, but I am not going to do it.” Once we have determined what the right thing to do is, we then need to do that thing. So we honor abortion as the morally correct choice in some cases, namely, when the pregnant person determines that it is needed. Finally, we chose the word abortion in order to destigmatize the practice.
What are your church services like?
There is no prescribed format for how people should worship together. People who gather together should infuse the services with meaning in whatever way seems most meaningful to them.
Do you consider yourselves to be a Christian denomination?
Absolutely not! Although many of us may find some inspiration in the Jesus story, the beliefs expressed in the Christian creed are hubristic in the sense that they make claims that no one can possibly know.
What is your position on sex? Is it just a free for all?
It is mostly a free for all in a very limited sense. Other than the very obvious, basic claim that all sexual acts should take place between consenting adults only, we are loathe to make a set of rules about this most fundamental aspect of “the good life”. We might also add that sex acts should be free of exploitation. But beyond that, we say only that one’s sex life should be intentional. If someone decides to be promiscuous because they have thought it out and they believe that that will enrich their lives, who are we to say that they are wrong? Or if they decide to be celibate because they have reflected on their circumstances and they believe that that will enrich their lives, who are we to say they are wrong? We do not believe that sex is intrinsically shameful. We are mostly sex-positive so long as it is consensual, age-appropriate, and intentional. The corollary to that (given that the LGBTQ+ community includes many folks who are asexual) is that refraining from sex is not intrinsically shameful either. Defining someone’s value by how they use (or don’t use!) their genitals is gross.
