Zion United Church of Christ is organizing and hosting the first ever Gay Pride Festival, parade and street fair to be held in St. Joseph next month.

A special worship service be held as part of the celebration.

The Pride Festival is June 8.

Entitled “In Celebration of Different”, the service is open to everyone and will be led by Donna Ross, pastor of Zion.

“For too long, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have heard they are not welcome in the Christian church. Many have been spiritually harmed by the very churches in which they were raised through excommunication, shunning and condemnation.”, said Pastor Ross.

“This service is to welcome everyone, to let them know they are entitled to a relationship with God and have a place at God’s table.”

In 2009, the George Barna Group, a firm that polls American faith, found that despite the frequent messages of exclusion, 70% of LGBT people still identify themselves religiously as Christians. Barna concluded that “People who portray gay adults as godless, hedonistic, Christian bashers are not working with the facts.”

Zion United Church of Christ is located at 815 Faraon.

For up-to-date information about Pride Festival activities, including the worship service, visit the website: http://www.stjoepride.com