Lutherans for Love

In 2023, Pastors Katy Fast (St. Mark, Dunedin), Anne Harmon (St. Paul’s, Clearwater), and Paul Gibson (Trinity, St. Petersburg) united their congregations for a groundbreaking initiative. They participated together in the St. Petersburg PRIDE Festival and Parade Day, aiming to create a welcoming and loving presence for the LGBTQIA+ community. Their efforts were met with overwhelming positivity, leading to new connections and a shared sense of purpose.

As June arrived, the pastors, dressed in clerical collars, alongside volunteers from the three churches, set up a selfie-photo booth at the festival, inviting attendees to engage in conversation. A second space was rented to distribute brochures about the churches, offer giveaways, and provide free water. The response was heartening, with festival-goers embracing the opportunity to connect. The parade that followed saw the pastors and a large group of volunteers walking and interacting with some of the 200,000 attendees. The impact was profound, with the LGBTQIA+ community expressing a deep need for love and acceptance from Christian churches. This outreach led to new faces in worship, and the churches felt called to expand their involvement in additional PRIDE Week events.

In 2024, with the support of the Synod’s V2A Grant, the "Lutherans for Love" initiative flourished. The grant enabled the purchase of reusable equipment and provided resources to explore innovative approaches to evangelism. "The V2A grant opened the door to countless opportunities for evangelism, reaching a wide audience," the churches reported. Over the summer, the Lutherans for Love team participated in five more LGBTQIA+ parades and events, with all three churches committed to continuing this effort in the coming year.