While I will be listing this resource with other transgender and religious curriculum, it is actually much more than that. This guide from the MCC Transgender Ministries team (led by Angel Collie) provides a recommended process for developing a comprehensive ministry with “transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex people including educational, worship, and programmatic resources.” The suggested timeline is two to three years and includes goals around activism, education, and worship. In the context of Metropolitan Community Churches, a congregation or organization can be “certified” as having completed program goals. The main landing page for the program is found on the MCC website.

The MCC TRANSformative Church Ministry Program guide is available as one very large PDF which includes a variety of components. The proposed process draws on the Human Rights Campaign’s curriculum called, “Gender Identity and Faith Communities” as well as other additional components.

The guide itself includes a contemporary rendition of Acts 8 and the Ethiopian eunuch, sample liturgies and prayers, and a service of naming, as well as pragmatic worksheets aimed at ministry planning. More resources in this guide can be pulled out to stand alone, including:

• Top 10 Ways to Make Your Church More Trans-Inclusive
• Pastoral Care with Transgender People by Sarah Ivy Gibb (previously published in Crossing Paths 2003)
• Gender 101 (workshop) leader’s guide, including Power Point slides, as well as a participant’s guide
• Trans-Etiquette
• A Coming Out as Trans Workbook
• American Psychological Association fact sheet (2011)
• transACTION curriculum
• Sample bathroom signs

Pre-recorded Trans 101 and Trans 102 webinars are available from MCC as well.

In the Metropolitan Community Churches context, one might assume that most people already understand about sexual orientation. If using these resources in another context, that may not be an appropriate set of assumptions. However, the guide does include a glossary and definitions as well as slides which can be used to make those distinctions. MCC also has a related “Holy Conversations” resource that is more limited on transgender experience, but may be useful in thinking about a comprehensive approach to ministry that includes sexuality and gender concerns.

Many curriculum resources aim for a short-term commitment. This guide (and related resources) are aimed at empowering long-term development in a particular congregational setting at multiple levels. All of the resources are pretty specifically Christian, but the framework could be adapted for other settings.

ALSO: More Trans and Religious curriculum ideas

Compiled by Mx Chris Paige on July 9, 2021. Please be in touch with corrections and feedback. This blog is a work in progress!