Category: Sydney

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...

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address to Steps of Solidarity event

30/3/2023

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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...

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

18/3/2023

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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...

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Dare to Speak Love's Name

19/2/2023

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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

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queer people at the heart of the Gospel

19/2/2023

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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'...

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Queer Faces of Faith photo exhibition

16/2/2023

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As part of both Equal Voices and Pitt Street Uniting Church, it was an immense delight to launch our Queer Faces of Faith photo exhibition - check out the photos and stories online here - at https://www.amplifyqueerfaith.com.au - and/or visit the physical exhibition at Pitt Street Uniting Church in the heart of the city of Sydney from 16 February to 31st March (before it goes on tour!).
The physical exhibition will be accessible during the Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras festival period 17 February - 5 March (10am-2pm - at least - daily).
#AmplifyQueerFaith #QueerFacesOfFaith #QueerAllyFacesOfFaith

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Australia's first trans priest and her wife

9/2/2023

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In the run up to Sydney WorldPride, SBS On Demand 'The Feed' were kind enough to produce a short feature on my wife Penny Jones and I,, which we hope may help and encourage others.

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launching Faith@WorldPride with Queer Angels

19/12/2022

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It was huge thrill to share in the launch of our Faith@WorldPride initiatives at Pitt Strete Uniting tonight, as our first large and extraordinarily gorgeous 'queer angels' (Compassion, Courage and Joy) arrived, with the amazing Jyllie Jackson and her team from LightnUp in Lismore (our community arts and justice partners and inspirators). It was a wonderful opportunity to meet before the various Faith@WorldPride events next year and to share something about what we are all being and doing. In addition to tahking Jyllie and her team, we were also delighted to have our friends from Studio Commercial with us to take some group photos to complement the first batch of Queer Faces of Faith exhibition photos currently being taken.
More information in the Wine with Queer Anegls brochure here

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Remembering those we have lost on World AIDS Day and renewing our solidarity

1/12/2022

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It was truly a great honour to speak tonight at the World AIDS Day event organised by Positive Life NSW at Sydney Conservatorium of Music - movingly recalling with some amazing people some of the memories of grief and strength in our journeys and gathering with bold positivity for the continuing challenges ahead.
My own address can be found here #letsleavenoonebehind

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Women in Leadership

29/11/2022

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I was thrilled to be invited to meet up with hundreds of amazing female leaders at the Women in Leadership Summit at the SCG and to offer a few words and hopedfully helpful insights of my own - albeit feeling a little awed by the brilliant range and depth of CEOs, Ministers, and other female movers and shakers, including of course Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb. This was such a vital gathering and, I hope, encouraging to all.#womenleadersinstitute