Pastor Craig Duke of Newburgh United Methodist Church in Evansville, Ind. was recently “relieved of pastoral duties” following his appearance in drag on a recent episode of the HBO series We’re Here.
The LGBTQ+ ally was recommended to appear on the series by his local Evansville Pride organization. We’re Here features drag stars Eureka O’Hara, Shangela, and Bob the Drag Queen traveling to small-town America and giving locals the drag makeover of a lifetime while highlighting their personal stories. For Duke, that story was one of support and empathy for his daughter who came out as pansexual two years prior.
In an interview with Religion News Service at the time, Duke described being on the show as “an incredibly wonderful, refreshing, deepening, powerful spiritual experience.” In addition to being literally transformative, it was eye-opening for the pastor. “I was surrounded and immersed in a culture that I’ve never been immersed in, and one of the things in ministry, if you want to involve people different than yourself in your ministry, you have to go to where people are different than you are. The invitation to be part of the show allowed me that,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment