Calvary at Aurora Pride

Representing Calvary at the Pride celebration in Aurora is always a deeply meaningful experience. I feel proud—not only to stand with the beautiful and resilient LGBTQ+ community—but to do so as a member of a church that embraces love, justice, and inclusion. Calvary’s presence at Pride is a message that affirms the belovedness of every person, and I am honored to be part of a community that lives out its values with intentionality and presence.

If Pride is, at its heart, a rejection of shame and stigma, then I hope our celebration and support adds something more: joy. Joy in being accepted, joy in being celebrated, and joy in knowing that faith and affirmation are not mutually exclusive. To be at Pride is to be surrounded by joy. It is a gift. I stand with my LGBTQ+ community because they make my life and my world better. And still, I hear time and time again how meaningful it is for our LGBTQ+ friends that a church showed up to be with them. How amazing that this joy and acceptance is reciprocated, especially in spaces where that hasn’t always been true.

- Caitlin Schall Sturgis