Being Wonderfully Made: Faith, Freedom, and Taking Your Place
What happens when faith stops being about certainty and starts being about becoming?
In Season 2 Episode 4, we have our first episode of our sapphic series where we sit down with the Rev. Ryan Hawthorne, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Texas, for a conversation about identity, calling, embodiment, liberation, and belonging.
Beginning with Psalm 139, Ryan reflects on growing up in the Black Baptist tradition, discovering the Episcopal Church, discerning a call to priesthood, and ultimately embracing her queer identity as an essential part of who God created her to be.
Together, we explore womanist theology, reading scripture from the margins, trusting intuition, living authentically, and why queer people are not asking for a place in the Church...we are taking the place that has always belonged to us.
This episode is an invitation to embrace curiosity over certainty, trust your own becoming, and remember that you are wonderfully made.
In this episode:
Growing up Black Baptist and attending Catholic school
Discovering the Episcopal Church
Womanist theology and reading scripture from the margins
Coming out during discernment for priesthood
Faith, doubt, and curiosity
Trusting intuition and embodiment
The priesthood of all queer believers
Taking your place in God's story
Quotes to sit with:
"Representation matters because sometimes seeing someone else gives you permission to become yourself."
"I realized I could not faithfully discern if I did not come out."
"Jesus doesn't need you to be right."
"Faith is also based on curiosity."
"What if we stopped committing to being right?"
"We are not alternative. We are part of what God called forth from the very beginning."
"When queer people stand as leaders in the church, we are not coming in to take over. We are simply taking our place. A place that was already prepared from the foundation of the world."
Questions for Reflection:
What parts of yourself have always been wonderfully made, even if others taught you to hide them?
OR…
What might it look like to thank God for the parts that others have told you to hide about yourself?
OR…
What has this episode brought up for you today?
