Where would Jesus poop?

by Sheryl Johnson
National Representative (elected co-chair of SCM)
April 8, 2009

Greetings from Toronto and the University of Toronto SCM, host of this year’s Shine! General Conference (coming up May 2-10!)! Plans for this year’s special conference are coming together well, and we are particularly excited for the Queer and Christian Without Contradiction Gathering which will be enmeshed with SCM’s annual Conference.

We have recently learned that Jan Braun, author of Somewhere Else, a book about a young queer Mennonite woman, will be attending our conference to speak and also launch SCM’s study guide which facilitates discussion based on her book. This is most exciting! I have had the great privilege of working on creating the book study guide which was done through teleconference weekly meetings. It was a fantastic opportunity to use technology to facilitate close connections across distance and to explore queer and Christian issues through this book with other SCMers. Perhaps in the fall we will launch another teleconference-style book study to put this resource to good use and provide connection and community for SCMers both with and without local unit connections.

Additionally, SCM at U of T is excited to be combining its annual senior friends’ gala with the Queer and Christian conference to offer the opportunity for senior friends and others not attending the whole conference to join in for a short portion of the time. The last Saturday night of the conference will be a special way to mark the end of the conference, and we are excited to host this at the university’s new Multi-Faith Centre. We are also excited to share this excellent strategy for fundraising and connecting with senior friends with other SCM local units.

Other resources, including awesome “where would Jesus poop?” t-shirts (highlighting violence experienced by trans and gender variant people relating to washrooms), a queer-themed All Things New, and a special edition of Epistle examining theological approaches to queer and Christian issues are well underway and we are excited to launch many of these at Conference.

The Queer and Christian conference organizers have received most gracious support from many individuals and churches in the Toronto area and are looking forward to welcoming everyone for a transformative week of retreat, study, and connection right in the heart of the city. Hope to see you at Conference!