‘Christ’s glow-up’ is featured in Transfiguration service

In the wake of an executive order recognizing only two genders by the new presidential administration, entities within the PC(USA) have responded with outrage. The Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity and the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice have issued several statements, including one lambasting such executive orders and another agreeing with the comments of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C. These statements offer a theological lens and biblical interpretation that affirm trans and queer identities. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary’s annual MidWinter Lectures featured two speakers, Dr. Wendy Farley and John Pavlovitz, who also addressed hatred toward LGBTQIA+ people and its antithesis to the spirit of the Gospel.

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Alongside statements, advocacy and theological responses, communities and leaders search for appropriate liturgy and pastoral responses to affirm the ways humans are made in God’s image. In early January, out of concern for the mental health and possible acts of violence or self-harm toward transgender youth and adults, at least one PC(USA) community found a way to make a trans-affirming ritual during the reaffirmation of baptismal vows on the Baptism of our Lord Sunday.

A recently published worship resource by UKirk Collegiate Ministries offers a Transfiguration service that can be “trans-affirming.”

The service, titled “Trans-Affirming Transfiguration,” uses “Christ’s glow-up” as a contemporary term to describe the story at the core of Transfiguration Sunday, which is traditionally celebrated the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. The exegetical notes also call the moment when Christ appears in glittering white to his disciples a “theophany” and an “apocalyptic moment.” After this divine appearance, Jesus Christ expands the scope of his ministry.

The UKirk introduction to this service explains how this liturgy “takes inspiration from the experiences of LGBTQIA+ students through whom we encounter the Imago Dei.” Writers of the liturgy acknowledge the “undeniable need to affirm, validate and celebrate LGBTQIA+ people in the church.” The writers comment on the way the Transfiguration text lends itself to a queer interpretation while also remarking how applying an “anthropological lens” to the Transfiguration of Christ may in itself be like Peter’s desire to build a tabernacle to contain the ineffable beauty of God incarnate.

UKirk provides professional support, empowerment and community for those engaged in campus ministry on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); therefore, its worship resource (a revision of one published in 2015) reflects the experiences of young adults and students. The downloadable booklet includes liturgy to mark the beginning of an academic year, mid-terms and family visits to campus, and graduation alongside Christian rites observed during ordinary time and holy days. But there are also additional prayers and practices that speak to the struggles of students today.

The UWorship resource was produced in partnership with UKirk Collegiate Ministries with the PC(USA)’s Office of Christian Formation.

Sections titled “The Human Experience” and “Worship We Wish We Didn’t Need” reflect the trials and traumas that young adults encounter in an age with growing mental health concerns, suicide rates and mass shootings on campuses. According to UKirk’s worship writing team, “In both of those spaces, we found the need to create liturgy and resources around the vast experience of being human in our broken world, and also the unfortunate anxiety and tragedy that college students live with on a daily basis.” And yet, the writing team affirmed, “in the midst of this, there is also deep good, holy, joyful space.”

UWorship reflects the collaboration of writers and editors John Golden and the Revs. Allison Wehrung, Nathan Wheeler and Rachel Penmore. In their introduction, they explain how “remarkable and meaningful” the process of revising this resource from 2015’s original format into something reflecting the reality of students in 2024 was. “We all wrote from experience of being with students as they are falling apart and learning how to put themselves back together over and over. We all have seen students navigate the hard work of being a person in a world that is more broken and fearful than ever. And in the midst of that, nestled deeply in the words and prayers, God was already there at work.”