Critical Queer Worship

Catalog description

TAUGHT BY GTU. In the context of the historical and contemporary oppression of LGBTQ+ people in North America, how can religious communities acknowledge their complicity and make a commitment to empower LGBTQ+ people of faith as they engage in meaningful and transformative spiritual practices? Are there rituals and an aesthetics of worship that are unique to and for LGBTQ+ people? Can these rituals and aesthetics provide LGBTQ+ people a unique opportunity to heal from spiritual trauma in a way that is practical and relevant to their experiences? In this course, we will explore, imagine, and bring to life what a Queer worship service will look like through our critical engagement with Queer theoretical/theological, Intersectional Feminist and Body theological methodologies. As the work of several diverse authors guide our work, we will also create, affirm, and contest our own developing conceptions of what constitutes queer worship in our contemporary North American context. This course is co-taught by PhD student Edna Bovas, with a Newhall Award, and Sharon Fennema.