LCUC

January 12, 2020 | Jenny Gray

The Year Ahead

I've not written anything for this site for almost a year. In my defence, I had health issues to deal with, and the last year was particularly challenging for British trans women as it seemed the press had largely decided we should be categorised on a spectrum ranging from "definitely dodgy" through to "spawn of Hell". The anger that politics generated in 2019 was palpable and damaging to an autistic lass with emotional regulation problems. But we continued our work in LCUC of celebrating the Holy Eucharist for the world, and growing our community of misfits and seekers (I'm not saying which I am), building a church that's not only safe and affirming for LGBT+ people but also open to the insights and wisdom of all religions.

I find this time of year empowering. After the solstice and the Christmas celebrations, we start to turn our thoughts from the reflections of winter to the spring and new beginnings, new ideas, new hope. I have many hopes for the year, not least among them the hope to be ordained priest at some point. But underlying them all is the hope for the spiritual evolution of each of us, of the country and of humanity as a whole. My hope and faith is that God is active in bringing this about and my faith is also that we are each of us called to participate in the work. I hope each person reading this will take some time to think on how we can do this, and I hope that the word about what we're trying to achieve with LCUC will spread. If you're in the North East of England, we have Mass regularly and I hope all know that they are welcome.

I mentioned hope a lot there. Well, it's quite literally my middle name.