Pride in the Pews celebrates 1st cohort in Nashville

Nashville Witnesses Journey to Pride

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A unique celebration marked the culmination of ‘Pride in the Pews’, a fresh initiative embarked upon by a group of nearly a dozen locals based in Nashville, Tennessee. Over several weeks, this group has sought to reconcile faith and sexuality by engaging with the LGBTQ+ community.

A Path to Affirming Spaces

Don Abram, Founder & Executive Director of ‘Pride in the Pews’, shed light on the group’s objectives, “We built pride in the pews so that we can give faith communities, the resources, skillset, and network to create more affirming spaces. Not only within the four walls of the church but beyond that as well.” Abram further spoke about the foundation of the national organization approximately three years ago in Chicago, and its expansion to numerous states today.

The Battle Against Religious Trauma

The program focuses on tackling ‘religious trauma’, a fallout known to creep in when faith communities do not affirm. He said, “When you are not affirmed by faith communities, that leaves you with what we call religious trauma. The after-effects of trying to heal from it are difficult, arduous, and painful.”

Shame, Trauma, Resilience, Triumph

The Nashville cohort has ostensibly dug into their share of shame and trauma in churches while receiving guidance to rise with resilience and triumph. “LGBTQ-plus communities still embrace faith and religious communities as a whole. But there is trauma associated with existing in communities that don’t affirm the truth of who you are. And that trauma can often prevent us from thriving and living holistic, healthy lives,” Abram elaborated.

Reimagining the Sacred

Apart from dealing with guilt and shame, the group discovered means to reimagine their relationship with what they deem sacred. Abram hopes that the cohort participants realized through their involvement in this process that sacredness is not merely confined to the church. “Recognizing that it’s not just the Bible that’s sacred, but it’s our stories that are sacred too, and how we might be able to approach those stories, believing that we have something to learn from them, something to glean from them.”

Future Cohorts

As this marks the first ‘Pride in the Pews’ cohort in Nashville, the organization is now contemplating the possibility of forming additional cohorts. More information can be obtained by clicking here.