Walk into certain churches today and you may encounter something that would be almost unrecognizable to Christians who worshiped in the same denominations only a generation ago.
Rainbow flags surround the sanctuary. Pastors preach in Pride-colored vestments. Worship services feature queer hymns and transgender themes. Glitter replaces traditional ashes. Rainbow bread appears at Communion. Special ceremonies celebrate transgender name changes, while Pride Month brings its own sermons, liturgies and church celebrations.
These aren’t simply changes in decoration or attempts to make visitors feel welcome. Taken together, they reveal how deeply LGBTQ+ ideology has worked its way into the worship and theology of parts of the modern church.
Christianity already has its own worship, hymns, sacraments, symbols, sacred language and understanding of identity. Increasingly, each is being reworked through the lens of sexuality and gender.
Here are ten of the clearest examples.
10. Transgender Worship Leaders And Bands
The worship platform has become one of the most visible places for churches to demonstrate LGBTQ+ affirmation. Transgender and nonbinary worship leaders are sometimes deliberately celebrated as representatives of a congregation’s commitment to queer inclusion.
The issue reaches beyond who is holding the microphone. Worship traditionally directs attention toward God. When gender identity itself becomes part of the message communicated from the platform, the purpose of that platform begins to change.
9. Queer Hymns And Trans-Inclusive Worship Songs
Even the songs are being rewritten.
LGBTQ+-affirming hymn collections and worship resources now include songs celebrating queer identity, same-sex relationships and transgender experiences. Traditional Christian language surrounding male and female, marriage, sexuality and identity can be altered to reflect modern gender theology.
Music has always taught theology. What a congregation repeatedly sings eventually helps shape what it believes.
8. Glitter Blessings
Few examples capture the transformation as vividly as “Glitter Ash Wednesday.”
Ash Wednesday traditionally confronts Christians with mortality, repentance and the need for forgiveness: “Remember that you are dust.” Yet some progressive churches have incorporated glitter into ashes or blessings as an expression of LGBTQ+ affirmation.
A solemn Christian practice associated with repentance becomes an opportunity to celebrate identity.
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7. Rainbow Communion
Even the Lord’s Supper has received a Pride makeover.
Rainbow-colored Communion bread, Pride-themed Communion tables, rainbow altar coverings and LGBTQ+ imagery have appeared in affirming churches.
Communion was given to point Christians toward the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. When Pride symbolism surrounds—or becomes part of—the sacrament itself, the symbolism competing for the congregation’s attention is impossible to ignore.
6. Transgender Renaming Ceremonies
Some churches now conduct special ceremonies recognizing the new names and gender identities of transgender members.
These services can include prayers, blessings, congregational responses and declarations celebrating a person’s new identity. The language can resemble themes Christians traditionally associate with baptism, belonging and receiving a new identity.
Christianity proclaims that believers receive a new identity in Christ. These ceremonies raise a profound question about what now defines the person standing before the congregation.
