TransFaith @ Philadelphia Trans Health Conference

Transfaith™ is a national non-profit that is led by transgender people and focused on issues of faith and spirituality.
See you at PTHC! This week is the 13th Annual Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference -- the largest transgender-specific conference in the world. Visit our table. We hope to see you there!   Wednesday Pre-Event Transfaith's annual pre-event at PTHC will be Wednesday, June 11, 2014, beginning at 3pm Eastern. Feel free to begin gathering at 2:30pm at the William Way Community Center 1315 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Creating Meaningful Ritual for Diverse Groups We will gather and discuss thoughts and considerations in creating meaningful ritual in gatherings of diverse people - religious, spiritual, non-spiritual. Louis Mitchell and Lynn Young will facilitate a discussion about religious privilege among other types of often unconsidered privileges. We will create ritual together and share a meal. The main gathering will run until 6pm and you are welcome to stay after for a vegetarian meal. Please RSVP for dinner so we can order enough food! New Spirituality Room The PTHCSpirituality Working Group is thrilled to announce that this year, for the first time, there will be a spirituality-designated room at the conference. Every year there are a number of special events such as worship, meditation, yoga, and more; this year all such events can be housed in the same room and we'll have much more flexibility in terms of timing. We need your help! We are still seeking and scheduling events in this room. Do you have something to offer? Ideas for events: Sacred rituals Sharing/teaching spiritual practices Worship services or circles Prayer and/or meditation Opportunities for pastoral care Ceremonies Other creative ideas Consider sharing your gifts and your spiritual practices with the Philly Trans Health community. If you know others who might have something to offer, please forward this invitation to them. We are looking to create a diverse and varied slate of spiritual opportunities. Please email Alex at alexleekapitan (at) gmail (dot) com to express your interest and share your proposals!	More Events at PTHC Native Smudge & Drum Circle - Thurs & Sat 11:50am-12:35pm :: on Arch St (weather permitting) Native/ First Nations/ Aboriginal Gathering Space - Throughout the conference at the end of the main hallway Yoga - Daily 10am-Noon in Room 108A Ganesh Puja: Offerings to the Remover of Obstacles - Thursday at 10:20am Coming Out Muslim: Radical Acts of Love - Friday at 8:45am Its Elemental: Centering with Earth, Air, Fire & Water - Friday at 2:20pm Shabbat Dinner and Shabbat Service - Dinner at 5:45pm and Service at 7pm at Arch St United Methodist Church, 55 S. Broad St (2 blocks from the convention center) Interdepending: Trans*Buddhist Activism and Experience - Saturday at 10:20am Making 12-Step Spirituality Work for Non-God-Types - Saturday at 12:45pm Quakerism 101: A Wor(k)ship - Saturday at 2:20pm Spiritual Care in Trans* Communities - Saturday at 2:20pm Black Faith Journeys - Resiliency and Struggle - Saturday at 5:40pm And more! Check the website for a full listing!

	You can find us at 888-7878-494 chris@transfaithonline.org www.transfaithonline.org
Transfaith affirms, empowers, and engages transgender and gender non-conforming people and their communities. Through education and collaboration, we equip and cultivate diverse expressions of gender-affirming spiritual vitality. Please invite others to join us! Sign up for our email mailing list to get updates regularly. Like us on Facebook, too! Make a financial gift to support our work.

Rev. Cameron Partridge will be first trans priest to preach at Washington National Cathedral

My Massachusetts colleague Rev. Cameron Partridge is preaching at Washington National Cathedral on the 22nd!  The first openly trans priest to do so!  Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson -- first openly gay priest to become a bishop -- will preside. And Julia and I will be there! And there will be a live webcast.  Here is the Cathedral's post on their website; they had a similar flyer displayed at their Capital Pride festival booth yesterday.

Quite the purple-letter day for the Episcopal Church, Integrity USA, TransEpiscopal (Cameron co-chairs and I’m a member), my fellow alumni of Saint Luke’s & Margaret’s (SLAM; Cameron’s church in Allston/Brighton which closed), Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (Cameron’s a founder and former co-chair) and others.

Here’s the Huffington Post piece, which includes TransFaith, Saint Paul's Cathedral Boston, and more.