Humboldt’s Westminster United Church was alive with music on Sunday during the Affirm Team’s Pie Day Coffeehouse on March 13.
Local talent came to sing, read stories, and blast out beautiful music on their instruments to welcome people who are LGBTQ+.
Raea Lamont played their ukulele and sang three songs for the gathered crowd, one of which was an original tune.
They told northeastNOW that as a non-binary person, Westminster and their Pie Day makes them feel more welcome than other churches they went to growing up in rural Saskatchewan.
“I have a lot of negative experience surrounding religion in different denominations of the church and I have been kind of afraid to even go into churches for most of my life but when I first came here in 2020 for the first Pie Day, I performed and that kind of melted away some of those fears.”
This is the church’s third annual Pie Day celebration with the first one being days before the COVID pandemic locked everyone down and the second being a drive-thru event. This is now the first event the church has held in-person which also made people excited.
Affirming Ministries is a movement that has been going on for 30 years and works to offer a safe place for people who are LGBTQ+ into United Churches across the country.
While the focus is on members of the LGBTQ+ community, Humboldt’s Affirm Team chair, Allison Sarauer, told northeastNOW the event was to honour any group that does not feel welcome into spiritual communities including Indigenous people and people of colour.
“In the 30 years that it’s been going they’re realizing of course, that there are other things (reasons) people don’t feel comfortable in a church. We’re hoping to figure out how to be more welcoming to people who aren’t like us (people who have been harmed by religion and oppression).”
The church is currently working to officially become an affirmed ministry and use Pie Day’s, on or as close to March 14 as they can, as a way to vocalize their support. Pie is also an acronym they use to show that their work in supporting people who are LGBTQ+ is public, intentional and explicit.
Sarauer said any church can talk the talk but it is about walking the walk.
Being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, Lamont sees the work that is going on to support LGBTQ+ communities, but there is always more that can be done.
“There are so many people who are going to avoid things like this because of fear. And it’s very important to make sure you’re being intentional in showing queer people who have had negative experiences with the church that where they are is a safe place for them to be who they are.”
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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @bex_zim
