DALLAS, Texas (September 14, 2020) – Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ, known as the largest predominantly LGBTQ+ church in the world, is pleased to announce the acquisition of, and partnership with, Believe Out Loud. Believe Out Loud will become a program of the Cathedral that will promote the message of God’s love for all, regardless of faith tradition.

As a new program of Cathedral of Hope, Believe Out Loud’s mission is to meet the needs for spiritual content tailored to the LGBTQIA community. These resources will go beyond tolerance and acceptance and use the LGBTQIA experience as a framework for understanding the divine.

“In the face of constant efforts to squeeze people who are different out of public space, it is critical to remain grounded in the deep faith that all people are worthy of God’s love,” said Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas, Senior Pastor of Cathedral of Hope. “We are excited to partner with Believe Out Loud to spread that message and be an affirming space for all people of faith and our allies.”

Started in 2007 as the Religious Voices Project, the original mission of Believe Out Loud was to determine where mainline Protestant clergy stand on gay and lesbian equality and assess methods to move more clergy toward LGBT acceptance. Believe Out Loud has since expanded its campaign from reaching exclusively mainline Protestant clergy to reaching Christians of all kinds, regardless of denomination, affiliation, or role.

Believe Out Loud now works internationally and digitally, having evolved to become an online community for LGBTQIA people of faith and allies. The organization provides access to affirming worship services and livestreams, LGBT and faith-related events, connections to justice and inclusion organizations, mental health resources, and original content.

Now operating under the the leadership of Cathedral of Hope, Believe Out Loud aspires to be a more diverse space, specifically working to unite people of various faiths and religious experiences to find hope and reclaim their own experience of the Divine.

Victoria Anderson, former digital and creative content associate for Believe Out Loud, has now joined the staff of the Cathedral of Hope as Director of Content Development.  “The Board and Staff of Believe Out Loud conducted a thorough and national search, including most major national LGBTQ nonprofits, to find the perfect home for our future.  We are thrilled that the new home proved to be Cathedral of Hope, and I’m excited to join the Reverend Neil and the incredible staff of Cathedral.

For more information or interviews, please contact:

Chris Kelley

Chris@kelleynotes.com

5910 Cedar Springs Road,

Dallas, TX 75235

214-351-1901

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About Cathedral of Hope

Cathedral of Hope, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), based in Dallas, Texas, is the world’s largest liberal Christian church with a primary outreach to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender people. Local and national church ministries, outreach programs, pastoral counseling, television media and the Internet touch thousands of lives each day. The Mission of the Cathedral of Hope is to reclaim Christianity as a faith of extravagant grace, radical inclusion and relentless compassion. Our beliefs are based upon our Core Values. The Core Values of Cathedral of Hope are Compassion, Inclusion, Liberation, Hope and Faith in Jesus.

About Believe Out Loud

Believe Out Loud is a global digital community working to move all people toward an expansive, transformative understanding of divine love. We center and sanctify queer spirituality across our programs, from our online worship services led by LGBTQIA faith leaders to our grantmaking program supporting faith-driven LGBTQIA peacebuilders around the world. On our social media platforms, hundreds of thousands of queer people of faith and allies gather to experience affirmation of their divinity—and to heal from damaging societal messages that alienate the LGBTQIA community from spiritual resources.