Hi, friend! 👋 So, you’re looking for a church and you don’t know where to start. Some people can just show up on a Sunday and see what it’s like, but people like us — spiritual refugees, especially LGBTQ+ folx — can’t do that so easily. Some churches aren’t safe for us. And, beyond the basic need for safety, we also have #churchhurt and #baggage. There are aspects of church that might be triggering for us because they’re too similar to the churches that hurt us. On the other hand, we need some things similar to the churches we know, because otherwise it doesn’t feel like church! So, where to begin??!
Girl, I got you!! Below is a database of affirming churches in the Des Moines metro area. Affirming is churchy language — it just means that these churches don’t just accept, but fully affirm, your God-given queer identities. This is not don’t ask, don’t tell. It’s not, “you can come sit in our pew but y’know there are rules.” This is full-blown, you are a child of God imbues with the Spirit of the living Christ and your queerness is a feature, not a bug! 🤩
But how do we know? Well, it’s complicated. Some denominations have a process by which they can earn the status of “open and affirming” or “reconciling” or some other title. Each denomination is different, and their processes are all different — which makes it really hard for seekers to find what they need! That’s why we’ve done some of this work for you, friend. Church shopping is hard enough as it is, and it’s really brave of you to take it on. We don’t want you to have to do this work all by yourself. But, we do want you to be informed, so on the page below we have some information about what it broadly means for a church to be “affirming” as well as the specifics for some of the denominations we have listed.
Without further ado, here it is! Your one-stop shopping spot for a queer-affirming church in the Des Moines metro area. You can click into this database to make it bigger, and you can toggle the filters and search in it however you’d like. We hope you find a church that draws your heart nearer to the heart of God, friend. May God go with you on your search. “The one who calls you is faithful, and God will do this.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)