How One Local Church is Promoting Inclusivity and Celebrating the Queer Community This Holiday Season

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Published: December 12, 2024 | Last Updated: January 8, 2025

For many queer people, it can be intimidating to consider entering a religious institution. On top of their ornately overwhelming (but beautiful) architecture, they can also represent past traumas. In fact, a 2022 study found that LGBTQ+ people who experience certain forms of religious trauma are at increased risk of substance abuse, homelessness, anxiety, depression and suicide.

Bill Danaher, the Rector of Christ Church Cranbrook (CCC) in Bloomfield Hills understands the complexity of these feelings, which is why he tells Pride Source that his goal when coming to CCC in 2014 was to “make church more inclusive. To be a normal human being and a good Christian is being welcoming and inclusive of all people.”

He says he doesn’t think it’s a “heroic thing” that his congregation and clergy welcome the queer community (many of them also are part of the queer community); he says in his experience, LGBTQ+ people “add vitality and joy” to everything they are part of, including church.

Darin DeWeese, CCC singer and the artistic director of PRISM Gay Men and Allies Chorus, says members of CCC “represent every color of the queer rainbow,” which he says shows the “essence of healing” that comes from attending the church, even for those who once had traumatic religious experiences.

“For some of our singers, I can see their shoulders kind of tense a little bit the first time they are walking into such a huge cathedral space because they don't know what to expect,” DeWeese says. “But then to be greeted by the clergy, hear affirming messages in sermons, and hear themselves represented in that kind of space, I think is a really healing experience for a lot of these guys.”

This is why DeWeese says the partnership between the church and chorus is something that “just makes sense.” Danaher also says he is “so proud to be associated” with PRISM.

Their next partnership is for the church’s upcoming Christmas Carols and Chocolate event on Dec. 23. The event is set to bring together church members, PRISM performers, local actors and community members looking for a festive respite. The theme will be “A Charlie Brown Christmas” because, as Danaher says, “there’s no better thing” than the beloved cartoon. Attendees will enjoy Christmas carols and reenactments of A Charlie Brown Christmas. And of course, there will be hot chocolate.

“It’s geared to be a secular event to bring all different communities together, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, into the same space,” says DeWeese.

Danaher says he hopes the event is joyful for the local community, especially during dark times. Following the presidential election, he says he could feel the hurt and fear throughout the church.

“Between the recent events that we've had to live through and the trauma that many LGBTQ+ people experience, holidays are a time when joy feels like it's been robbed from them,” says Danaher. “So our goal with this event is that we're bottling up joy in a way that's going to be available for anybody. It doesn't matter if they're a person of faith or if they have a hard time keeping faith during difficult times,” says Danaher.

Following the election, Danaher stressed in a sermon that he and his congregation are committed to the queer community and “have their backs.”

“The egregious, horrible scapegoating that has happened is not reflective of how most people feel and believe,” says Danaher. He says this is especially true of God.

“God made them exactly as they are. The greatest gift He gave them is the fullness of themselves,” he says.

DeWeese says it’s refreshing to see faith and queerness exist in the same space, as they aren’t mutually exclusive.

“To see local organizations going out of their way to extend a sort of olive branch to our [queer] community, it means a lot,” says DeWeese.

CCC’s commitment to the community doesn’t stop there. The church is providing holiday meals for over 115 families in Pontiac in partnership with The Baldwin Center. It is also gathering about 4,000 toys with help from its 17 community partners. Its outreach isn’t exclusive to the holiday season, though. The church partners with the Ruth Ellis Center monthly to serve meals, donate money and educate the community on the organization's role in supporting local LGBTQ+ youth. And Danaher says much of the leadership around these projects is queer.

“We could not do church without them,” he says. “Our leadership and our congregation is a visible demonstration to the community that we mean what we say when we say that everybody is welcome at Christ Church Cranbrook.”

PRISM is excited to spread holiday cheer with music this season, and DeWeese says they will be “all over the place” doing so. To stay up-to-date about their appearances, check out their Facebook page.

“I hope we just get the chance to brighten everyone’s holiday and see people out and about in the community together,” he says.

Danaher agrees, and says his “greatest prayer” is that everyone experiences joy this holiday season.

“I want to assure the LGBTQ+ community that joy is a birthright given by God, and no one can take that away from them,” says Danaher.