Whole Selves: Camp Osiris Attendees Integrate Faith & Queer Identity
There are a few spots left for Camp Osiris, a retreat experience for queer and/or trans* people and allies who want a safe space to discuss their faith and their identities. The following reflection is from camp co-founder, Rev. Shannon Kearns.
I remember one of the first times I had the courage to write in my journal: “I think I might be gay.”
I was in college at a fundamentalist evangelical school where being gay could get you kicked out.
I was terrified. I had no idea what being gay would mean for my life…would I be alone forever? Would I lose my family? Would I have to leave the church and give up my faith? I felt so alone and like there was no one I could talk to.
Flash forward through a bunch of years of intense struffle. I had come out, found a new church, and reconciled myself to being queer and a Christian.
And I still felt so alone.
Many of the queer and/or trans* people I knew were angry at the church (with good reason) and wanted nothing to do with God. The Christians I knew weren’t queer and even if they were supportive they didn’t understand how hard it was. I felt like there was no place where I could be a whole person. I was always having to hide a part of myself.
But in the quiet places, when I was alone, it was both my queerness and my Christianity that made me who I was.
It was both of those parts of me, working together, that gave me life. Where could I go to be whole? Were there other people out there who were both queer and Christian? This is why Camp Osiris exists.
This is where you can bring your whole self and be in community with other people who are bringing their whole selves.
In this space you don’t have to defend why you are still a Christian. You don’t have to defend why you are queer and/or trans*.
You don’t have to defend how you can possibly be both.
In this space you can just be. We’ll learn from each other how both our queerness and/or trans*ness and our Christianity work together and give us life.
Click here to download the camp application, and email us for more information on financial assistance.