Blessed Imp - Jo Inkpin Blog

Faithfully Me

19/11/2023

Thanks to ABBI (in this Trans Awareness Week) for featuring the 25 minute documentary Faithfully Me - now available (after being on ABC licence) here online and for educational use etc. Among other things, it is wonderful to be reminded of the fabulous support I had in coming out from so many Anglicans in southern Queensland - not least my amazing colleagues at St Francis College and in Milton parish, the terrific Dean and community of St John’s Cathedral Brisbane, and our border collie!

A brief synopsis:
‘Coming out as transgender in a Christian environment from two different sides of the pulpit has its challenges. Faithfully Me is a 25 minute documentary that follows the Revd Dr Josephine Inkpin, Australia’s first openly transgender ordained priest, and Rhett Pearson, a transgender man, as they embark on their own individual quests to reconcile their true identities and their faith. Meeting the significant people in their lives gives further richness to their stories.’

interfaith prayer for YES

22/9/2023

Faiths Together for the Statement from the Heart

21/9/2023

As part of our continuing commitment both to Walking Together with First Nations Peoples and to inter-faith relations, it was particularly good to come together on the International Day of Peace this year to receive and affirm the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including the Voice to Parliament. Not least we were blessed with Charles Prouse, author of One the Voice to Parliament, and a Nyikina man from the Kimberley, Western Australia, with over 20 years' experience in Indigenous affairs across Australia. My own words on this occasion, including my video version of a keynote prayer for all faiths can be found below...

enlarging and enacting oikoumene today

15/4/2023

address to the Eco-Iftar 2023, lead organised by Muslim Collective,
at Pitt Street Uniting Church, Sydney, by the Revd Dr Josephine Inkpin...

Releasing the Tiger: Queering Spiritual Direction

13/4/2023

This paper (by the Revd Penny Jones and myself) was originally published in Coolamon, Issue 7 March 2023, the journal of the Australian Network for Spiritual Direction). It can be downloaded here. It explores some ways in which LGBTQ+ people contribute to our changing experience of God and reveal paths of enriching spiritual transformation. For sexual and gender identities have been at the heart of some significant recent features of both spiritual growth and conflict. From the late 1960s,1 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) 2, or queer3 people have formed increasingly effective social and political movements, transforming many cultural, legal and philosophical norms across the world. For many, this has also involved deliberate or unconscious spiritual expression. Progress has however been uneven, across time and space, and traditional religious formations and spiritual norms have been particular obstacles. Differing, and sometimes conflicting, conceptions of queer people and their gifts are therefore inevitably present within the spiritual direction space. Deeper exploration of these, and the underlying lived spiritual experience of queer people, is thus vital for the further flourishing of all involved. Indeed, whilst aspects may be challenging for some, the authors of this paper affirm that queer spiritual experience and understanding offers gifts which provide renewing insights for spiritual direction practice as a whole. Without unduly entering into wider controversies over sexuality and gender, this paper therefore suggests some life-giving ways to engage. These include exploring aspects of “queer virtues” identified by queer spiritual theologians and the metaphors of “coming out” and “transition” as embodiments of the paschal mystery and healthy, holy, transformation...

a conversation on The Latest

2/4/2023

It was good to share recently on The Latest in LGBTIQ+ Health and Policy - a podcast that brings the health and wellbeing hot topic discussions that matter to LGBTIQ+ people:

Our conversation explored the intersection between faith and LGBTQ+ community, the changes happening within the church, overcoming barriers as a trans woman, and my 30 year relationship with wife Penny.'

This podcast was produced by JOY Media – Australia’s Rainbow Community Media Organisation. For more information about JOYs services, visit joy.org.au/services

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:16 — 34.7MB)
Subscribe or Follow Us: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

address to Steps of Solidarity event

30/3/2023

Budyeri Gamaruwa – greetings in Gadigal. I acknowledge elders, past and present, and all First Nations people here. For before these steps on which we stand existed, this was Aboriginal land. It is, and always will be, Aboriginal land. For true identity, love and self-determination are not ceded by the oppressions of others. That is at the heart of our simple act of solidarity today.

My name is Josephine McDonnell Inkpin. I am a transgender woman and a queer person of faith. including being Minister here at Pitt Street Uniting Church. So I thank you all for coming this morning. For gender diverse people and queer people of faith are very vulnerable right now. We are not surprised by current attacks. In fact, we trans people have been warning about them for ages, but typically our concerns have given little priority -– just as our calls not to issue a visa to an UK rabble-rouser could have helped avoid Nazis on the streets of Melbourne and feeding right wing forces across the country. Similarly, we queer Christians have called for our voices to be heard properly but, with notable exceptions, many key Christian leaders and some queer people have given little priority to our concerns – just as our calls to help us address the now visible Christian Right in Sydney could have helped avoid the violence on Sydney streets. This - must – change: both for the sake of trans people and queer people of faith and for us all. For an attack on any of us is an attack on all of us. Our attackers think that trans people and queer Christians are easy and weak targets. Well, we are so not weak in spirit, but we are not as strong we could be if we had greater voice and empowerment. This simple solidarity photograph is therefore a declaration of that intent...

Queer Christians address to rally against the anti-LGBTI+ far right

18/3/2023

I speak as both a transgender woman and as an Anglican priest, currently serving as an Uniting Church Minister. As a Queer Christian I am not alone. There are many of us in Sydney, and across the world. For we, and queer people of other faiths, have always existed. We can be found in the Bible, throughout history, and we are very much alive today. Yet our lives are so commonly denied. For we are an inconvenient truth: inconvenient both to the Christians who oppose us, and inconvenient also to others, including some in the queer community, who would deny our lives. As such, we are at the heart of the continuing culture wars we seek to end today and we share in the solidarity and hope which this gathering embodies. Indeed, without us the battles we face together simply cannot be won. We so need each other and we badly need others to hear our voices and act upon them...

Dare to Speak Love's Name

19/2/2023

Wonderful to sing my hymn for Sydney WorldPride (based on its theme Gather, Dream, Amplify) this morning at Pitt Street Uniting Church - feel free to use and share! #amplifyqueerfaith #amplifyfaith #sydneyworldpride

queer people at the heart of the Gospel

19/2/2023

We have started producing some short video clips from LGBTIQA+ folk at Pitt Street Uniting Church - partly for the Sydney WorldPride season but also beyond - but also to help others and transform the silence and distortions that still accompany our lives and living faith. This brief contribution is entitled: 'The Gift of Queer People of Faith: bringing us back to the heart of the Gospel, helping Love flow'...