Cathedral of Hope, based in Dallas, Texas, is a United Church of Christ congregation. Its mission is to advocate for Christianity as a fundamentally inclusive faith of overwhelming grace and unrelenting compassion. One of the world’s largest LGBT-friendly congregations, it is now the fourth-largest church in the North Texas Association denomination.
Initiated in 2007 as the Religious Voices Project, Believe Out Loud‘s founding mission was to identify Protestant clergy’s stance on gay and lesbian equality and assess methods for bringing more clergy into LGBT acceptance. The project has evolved into an online community for LGBTQIA people of all faith traditions and their allies. It has become a digital community that is striving to help all people come to an understanding of divine love. Its online worship services are led by LGBTQIA faith leaders.
Believe Out Loud is striving to become a broader diverse space, working to unite people of diverse faiths and religious experiences. Victoria Anderson, the former Creative and Digital Content Associate at Believe Out Loud has joined the Cathedral staff as Director of Content Development. Believe Out Loud will be established as a Cathedral program promoting the message of love for all, regardless of religious beliefs.
Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas, Senior Pastor of Cathedral of Hope, explained, “In the face of constant efforts to squeeze people who are different out of public space, it is critical to remain grounded in the deep faith that all people are worthy of God’s love. We are excited to partner with Believe Out Loud to spread that message and be an affirming space for all people of faith and our allies.”
Learn more about Cathedral of Hope here: https://cathedralofhope.com/
Learn more about Believe Out Loud here: https://www.believeoutloud.com/