1 January 2022

Happy New Year from the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS)!  As we open a new calendar year, I am proud to report that our high-quality and innovative programs will continue to make a real difference in the lives of LGBTQ people, our families, and our faith communities.

Looking back on 2021, here are just a few highlights from our work last year:

• A fully-online presence: CLGS now offers all of our programming in online or hybrid formats: from our Lavender Lunches and Jewish Queeries Series to our Queer & Latinx Faith Conversations and online book clubs, anyone can take part in our programs – and at no cost!
• Providing new resources for pastoral care and community-building, including the recently-published book Transkeit, edited by Rabbi Jane Litman, Coordinator of our Jewish Roundtable, and Rev. Jakob Hero-Shaw, Coordinator of our Transgender Roundtable. This volume contains an extraordinary collection of essays by trans Jews and allies;
• Promoting new scholarship through our annual Harkness and Boswell Lectures, which feature internationally-recognized scholars, religious leaders, and social-change activists; on 21 April 2022 please join us as we welcome Professor Rolf Nolasco (speaking on Queer Bodies: Colliding, Expanding, Flourishing) as our 15^th Annual CLGS John Boswell Lecturer;
• Cutting-edge educational programs, such as our Certificate of Sexuality and Religion, which is available 100% online and can be completed in one academic year;
• Vibrant conversations, mentoring, and spiritual formation for our 9^th Trans Seminarian Leadership Cohort, with students from a variety of religious and spiritual traditions; and
• Weekly social media posts that help communities of faith increase their welcome of LGBTQ people, respond to current events, and address the spiritual needs of our communities.

We hope that you will join us in 2022 for several (or more!) CLGS programs that bring our work in education, research, advocacy, and community-building to people all over the world.

And I invite you now to show your support for CLGS by making a gift of any amount.  Whatever you can give, know that we deeply appreciate – and need – your generous support for our work which advances the well-being of LGBTQ people everywhere.  Thank you and Happy New Year!

Bernard S. Schlager, PhD | Executive Director