Sermon sparks trans debate
Episcopal Priest Faces Criticism Following Sermon Describing Jesus as Transgender
Anonymous
Episcopal priest Flourish Klink drew criticism for a sermon at a New York City service celebrating transgender joy, in which Klink described God as beyond the male-female binary and said Jesus could be understood as transgender. Klink argued that Mary assigned Jesus a male identity at birth, that Jesus departed from some gender expectations of his time, and that his resurrection may have represented a transition, while acknowledging the Bible does not explicitly describe such a change. Critics called the interpretation heretical or offensive and pointed to the biblical account that the angel Gabriel told Mary before Jesus’s birth that she would have a son; the sermon later resurfaced online and prompted renewed debate.
Key Points
1
Klink delivered the sermon at the Cathedral of St John the Divine’s Celebration of Trans Joy and Resilience, a service held ahead of Transgender Day of Visibility and featuring a transgender and gender-diverse choir.
2
Klink serves on the Greater New York Area Episcopal Trans Task Force and the diocese’s Liturgical Committee, including an editorial sub-committee working on inclusive-language versions of psalms and prayers.
3
The sermon was delivered in March; according to the Hungarian Conservative, footage was recirculated by The Dissenter on X on September 23, and Townhall managing editor Matt Vespa criticized it the following day.
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