The spirit of the ever-expanding love of God was celebrated at St Peter’s on Willis in Te Aro Wellington on Sunday morning the 12th of March. Inspired by a Melbourne church’s service during the 2023 Midsumma LGBTQIA+ arts festival, a group of Rainbow Christians organised this service to coincide with the Wellington Pride festival.

St Peter’s was decorated with inclusive pride flags, rainbows and queer icons such as Perpetua and Felicity, Sergius and Bacchus. The liturgy was specially crafted to guide the parish in imagining what worship can look like when written from the perspective of LGBT Christians. Worshippers were informed at the outset that things would be a bit different and potentially uncomfortable and invited to embrace both the discomfort and joy in celebrating differences differently. 

The service was well attended by regular St Peter’s parishioners, guests from other churches, and by folk who wouldn’t usually attend church. One community member who came to check out this service remarked, “This is the most included I’ve ever felt in a church service.” 

While comments from both parishioners and guests at the event were overwhelmingly positive, a number of negative comments on social media provided a sobering reminder that St Peter’s on Willis’s vision of divine radical inclusion is not shared by all. 

St Peter’s has a long history of Rainbow activism spanning over fifty years, and the church continues that work of affirming ministry today. 

If affirming ministry is something you would like to explore for your parish, the St Peter’s team are always ready to kōrero. 

By Michael Toy, St Peter’s on Willis