In Full Communion

Anglicans and Lutherans working together in Canada

Honouring transgender lives lost

November 16, 2022

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Dear Friends in Christ:

On November 20, we invite you to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance, by honouring the memory of those murdered in acts of anti-transgender violence.

Violence committed against transgender people is a pervasive, persistent, and tragic problem. We recognize the diversity and resilience of the community in the face of harassment and violence. We acknowledge that many religious institutions have contributed to the trauma and violence experienced by transgender individuals and communities. We pray for better protections for all those in the trans community and commit ourselves to advocating for these protections.

Jesus teaches us to uphold the dignity of all people. We recognize the image of Christ in every person and serve that person as Christ himself. In meeting diverse people, we begin with respect for the value of each person as a unique child of God, including all transgender persons.

On November 20 you might choose to attend a virtual or in-person Trans Day of Remembrance event taking place in your community, to engage is an opportunity for learning, to connect with a friend, and/or to spend some quiet time in reflection and prayer. We commend to you WE PRAY: Prayers To and For the Transgender Community.

We are grateful for these words of Prayer by Leo Bancroft of ReconcilingWorks:

God of love, you weep with us in our grief and fear. Enfold in your loving embrace all those in our trans community lost to death this year. You know their names, Divine Creator, even when they are misnamed or misgendered as a last act of violence and erasure. You see each one as beloved, and call them by their chosen name. You claim them as your children.

God of peace, give comfort to those who mourn. Give courage to our trans communities in the face of cruelty and harassment. Bring to justice those who perpetrate this violence.

Challenge us, O Holy One, to speak out for those who are silenced, to stand with those who are bullied, and to go with those who face danger.

God of wonder, you are beyond gender. You made each of us in your image. Be with us today and always as we long for a day when every individual is safe and known and honored.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, who brings us all together in one human family. Amen.

Yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Linda Nicholls
Archbishop and Primate, Anglican Church of Canada

Rev. Susan C. Johnson
National Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

Matthew 10:40-42

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Rewards

40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

John 15:12-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing, but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ¹⁷I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

John 21:15-19

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Luke 11:33-36

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Light of the Body

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket; rather, one puts it on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is unhealthy, your body is full of darkness. ³⁵Therefore consider whether the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶But if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.”

Matthew 8:1-4

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Jesus Cleanses a Man

8 When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him, ²and there was a man with a skin disease who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ³He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be made clean!” Immediately his skin disease was cleansed. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”