Tucson’s 5th Annual Multi-Faith Pride Service with the theme “Sacred Presence” will be held Sunday, Oct. 6 from 3 to 5:30 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 160 S. Scott Ave.
The Wingspan Multi-Faith Working Group and the LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, have cosponsored the service honoring the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community for the past four years. It has been hosted by some of the inclusive congregations in Tucson — the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, Temple Emanu-El, the First United Methodist Church of Tucson and Grace-St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
This year the planning committee decided to hold the event in a nonreligious public space to accommodate the growing attendance and make it more welcoming, says Fran Braverman, co-chair of the committee. She explains that past exclusion and hostile targeting by religious institutions has left many LGBT community members, families and supporters estranged from organized religion. “This is true even though Tucson is filled with a wide variety of welcoming congregations,” adds Braverman. The Scottish Rite Cathedral is the home of the Tucson group of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry, which welcomes members of all religions.
The event will feature a 75-minute service with an hour of social time. Rabbi Helen Cohn of Congregation M’Kor Hayim will speak on behalf of the Jewish community. For more information, email multifaith prideservice5@gmail.com.
For information on this year’s service project, “Signs for Change: A mural art-sign project for marriage equality,” contact Marc Paley at mpinsights@gmail.com.
