Unified, rooted, rising: UCC carried message of God’s love to World Pride

With bright colors, charisma, and messages of God’s extensive love, folks from across the United Church of Christ were a strong presence at World Pride this past weekend.

The international gathering took place in Washington, D.C., where UCC leaders and congregants came from places as widespread as California, Texas, and the broader D.C. area to worship, march, and celebrate God’s love for LGBTQ+ people.

Empowerment Interfaith Worship Service

An Interfaith Worship Service, held at the historic National City Christian Church on June 6, brought together queer and trans individuals and allies for healing, worship, and collective renewal.

It was held by the National Trans Visibility March and supported by the UCC, based on the theme “Unified in faith. Rooted in revolution. Rising together.” The recorded service is available to view.

The Rev. Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey – a minister, activist, and Alabama state director with the Human Rights Campaign – offered a message that trans and queer people “can manage in places not designed for us.”

“We were made for this moment, appointed for this revolution,” she said. “In what was meant to destroy us, we come together unified in faith, rooted in revolution, and rising together, because we are more powerful than we ever imagined. Take your rightful place, stand in your truth, and let us create the revolution that we want to live in.”

Through prayer, music, mindfulness, and workshops, the space became a sanctuary of inclusion, restoration, and joy.

Throughout the gathering, speakers and attendees centered trans and gender-nonconforming lives and voices as sacred.

R. Ward, UCC Gender and Sexuality Justice minister, described the powerful convergence of World Pride taking place on Pentecost weekend.

“This is the time when the spirit of God comes down and transforms us over and over,” they said.

The Rev. Derek Terry, acting executive director for the Open and Affirming Coalition of the UCC, reflected on trans leadership as essential and necessary.

“We see you, honor you, follow you, for the spirit is moving through your courage,” he offered.  “If the church is to be a church at all, it must stand with you loud and unafraid.”

The interfaith service ended on the church steps, with the people who were gathered offering a collective litany of affirmation and commitment.

“We sit. We stand. We rise and move united, upholding the sacredness of our transgender and gender expansive siblings!” they declared together.

Following the worship service, Ward, Terry, and several others led wellness workshops on topics that included building communal care, healing through storytelling, and the spirituality of queerness.

World Pride Parade

People from across the denomination showed up with bold faith and vibrant signs to march in the World Pride Parade on June 7. A float and many marching alongside moved through the streets of D.C. with the message that God’s love is for everyone.

Congregants and pastors of churches in the Washington, D.C. area and beyond held signs that brightly declared the UCC’s message of “a just world for all.”

Several of those who marched shared what brought them to World Pride and why it mattered for them to show up as people of faith in a UCC News video.

Max Lotko, a member of Amherst Congregational UCC near Cleveland, Ohio, traveled to World Pride to march with the UCC after having marched with the denomination at the Cleveland Pride Parade in 2024.

“It’s important to share representation, especially in our church. We’re very lucky that we’re part of a church that’s open and welcoming and inclusive, and we need to continue to show the world that God loves them and that they can join us on that journey,” Lotko said.

The Rev. Freeman Palmer, Conference minister of the Central Atlantic Conference, spoke with a person at the Pride Parade who was surprised to see a church there. She said that she was seeking a church.

“She was probably in a place where she was never beloved by a church, never accepted by a church, never affirmed by a church,” Palmer said. “‘I said, ‘Yes, we are a church that loves you and affirms you.’ For me, hearing her, and being with her, and saying there’s a church that she can go to, made the day worth everything it could be.”

National Trans Visibility March

UCC members gathered on Sunday morning, June 8, to march alongside the National Trans Visibility March toward the International Rally and March on Washington for Freedom as “church on the move.”

A few days before, on June 6, NTVM honored the UCC “for its bold and public faith-rooted allyship,” alongside other organizations who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to uplifting, protecting, and empowering transgender, nonbinary, and intersex communities, at the organization’s Labor of Love award ceremony.

“The Labor of Love Awards are about more than recognition,” said Marissa Miller, NTVM founder. “They are a reminder that transformation doesn’t happen through policy alone — it takes heart, humility, and hard work. These honorees are living proof that love is not passive — it’s powerful. It’s strategy in motion.”

The UCC stood in solidarity and support with NTVM at the International Rally for Freedom. Gathered before the Lincoln Memorial, speakers shared messages focused on the sacred call to protect trans lives, dignity, and rights.

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