WE LOVE ALL 2024
Join the GMS Reconciling in Christ (RIC) Ministry Team for their annual WE LOVE ALL learning event! We encourage everyone in the synod – whether you’re an RIC congregation, an ally, or you want to be accepting but still have questions about what all those letters stand for – to attend this event.
This year we will be welcoming Josiah Crawford, adult child of Rev. Jane and Rev. Myron Crawford, as our keynote speaker. We are also working on organizing a diverse panel of queer teenagers to speak to the experience of growing up LGBTQIA+ today.
The main registration deadline has passed. You are welcome to register and attend – but please note that meals are no longer available. Please plan to either bring your own meal or to eat offsite. The registration fee of $15 remains unchanged.
A light breakfast will be provided during registration.
8:30 am – Registration opens for people attending LGBTQIA+ 101
9:00 am – LGBTQIA+ 101 with Rev. Juniper Linberry
9:15 am – Registration opens for all
9:45 am – Welcome and opening devotion with Rev. Tyler Rasmussen
10:00 am – Keynote presentation by Josiah Crawford-Olesen (“Glitter and Be Gay: Living at the Intersection of Queerness and Christianity”)
11:00 am – LGBTQIA+ Youth Panel
12:00 pm – Lunch
1:00 pm – Youth Panel debrief with Rev. Rachel Young-Binter
2:00 pm – Breakouts sessions (topics to be announced soon!)
2:45 pm – Closing worship with Rev. Jane Crawford and Rev. Myron Crawford
3:15 pm – Departure
Keynote Speaker: Josiah Crawford
Josiah Crawford-Olesen is a Madison-based educator, presenter, and clinician, focusing research on creating inclusive spaces that haven’t been traditionally welcoming to the queer community, namely classrooms and churches. Previous presentations include the South Dakota Music Educators Association Annual Conference during his undergraduate work, the Wisconsin Music Educators Association Annual Conference in October of 2023, as well as various regional churches. When not researching and presenting, Josiah is a music educator, and lives in the Madison area with his husband, Hunter.
Pre-Event Workshop: LGBTQIA+ 101
The RIC Team’s “We Love All” event is for everyone in your congregation. But not everyone is familiar with all the language we’ll be using. Every year we plan a pre-event workshop to help us all be on the same page throughout the event.
To help determine if you should attend “LGBTQIA+ 101,” we encourage you to take the following short quiz:
- What do all the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for?
- What’s cisgender?
- What is two-spirit (2s)?
- What does queer mean today?
- What’s the difference between gender and sex?
- What’s the difference between gender identity and gender expression?
- What’s the difference between sexual identity and sexual orientation?
- What’s the difference between asexual, agender, and aromantic?
If there was any question you didn’t know the answer to, and especially if the final questions felt like they began to blur together, we encourage you to attend this workshop. It will help you throughout the day by ensuring we all share a basic understanding of the language and terms we’ll be using.
