South Church Celebrates Pride Sunday, June 12

South Presbyterian Church is celebrating Pride Sunday, June 12, at 10:00 am, with guest speaker Mother Grace Wilgefortis Ferris. A graduate of the seminary at Liberty University, Mother Grace was a male Southern Baptist minister until undertaking tandem transitions recently, one from Baptist to Catholic and the other from Gary to Grace. All are welcome.

The service will celebrate God’s love for the rainbow of identities and is an outgrowth of South Church’s long-standing welcome to the LGBTQIA+. “At a time when rights are once again under threat, we want the message that God’s love is for everyone to be loud, proud and constant. You are welcome here.” said Minister Margery Rossi.

Mother Grace will offer a personal message of diversity and inclusion—and its biblical basis. After the service, there will be rainbow cookies for all, and the hanging of a new Pride flag in front of the church.

Mother Grace is one of less than a dozen transgender Catholic priests worldwide. She was ordained into the priesthood of the independent and fiercely liberal Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (CACINA) and is also a friar in the Franciscan Community of Reconciliation. Last summer she launched CACINA’s Saint Wilgefortis TransMISSION, an online spiritual home for transgender Christians. There are currently about 150 individuals involved with Saint Wilgefortis.

Mother Grace grew up in Thornwood and is cousin to South Presbyterian member Patricia Fischer Donohue. She currently lives near Albany.