Covenant Conversation: Cascades
When Did We See You?
Recognizing God’s Image in All God’s People
In Matthew 25, we are challenged with one of scripture’s most piercing questions when Jesus is asked: When did we see you? The disciples had walked right past the hungry, the stranger, the imprisoned — and missed seeing Christ in their faces. That question feels just as alive today, as LGBTQIA+ people continue to seek full belonging in our congregations, our communities, and our common life. Covenant Conversation: Cascades is an invitation to look more closely — at scripture, at the stories around us, and at ourselves — and to grow in our ability to recognize the image of God in all God's people. Through worship, conversation, and a range of workshops, we'll explore what the Bible and our faith tradition have to say about inclusion, support church leaders navigating hard conversations, and ask together what it means to be faithful witnesses in a time when LGBTQIA+ rights and dignity are under real pressure. Whether you're just beginning this journey or have been walking it for years, you belong in this conversation.
Registration is $25 and includes lunch. Groups of three or more from the same congregation receive a $5 discount per person (using discount code: GROUP). Registration is free for all students and anyone with financial need (using discount code: FREE).
This event is presented by the Covenant Network of Presbyterians in partnership with leaders and congregations of Cascades Presbytery and the Synod of the Pacific.
Tentative Schedule:
9:30 - Registration opens
10:00 - Welcome & Introductions
10:15 - Plenary: Panel Discussion
11:30- Workshop #1
12:30 – Lunch
1:15 - Workshop #2
2:30 - Coming Back Together
2:45 - Closing Worship
3:30- Go in Peace
Plenary Panel: “When Did We See You?”
Moderated by the Rev. Brian Ellison, the morning plenary features Michele DeClue and the Rev. Katherine Pater sharing their perspectives on recognizing God's image in all people today.
Ruling Elder Michele DeClue is a lifelong Presbyterian and a member of Tualatin Presbyterian Church in Tualatin, Oregon, continuing a family tradition that spans generations. Music has shaped much of her faith journey, from singing in her church's junior choir as a child to later serving as Ruling Elder of Music Ministries and touring internationally with church choirs in Canada and Italy. Prior to joining Tualatin, she was a member of a Presbyterian congregation where she served on the Session and later discovered that as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community she was not fully welcomed. Professionally, she has spent 39 years in banking, currently serving as a senior internal operations support banker, and holds a degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology and French from Portland State University. She is currently pursuing certification as a Commissioned Ruling Elder.
Rev. Katherine Pater (she/her): Katherine graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a double major in Political Science and Religious Studies. After receiving her Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School, she was ordained to serve as a mission co-worker in El Salvador. She currently serves as the Pastor at Longview Presbyterian Church. Katherine is also a PhD student studying Practical Theology at Claremont School of Theology, studying the intersection of faith and reproductive justice, and a freelance writer who has written about feminist and queer theology for Sojourners and other publications.
Brian Ellison (he/him) has served since 2012 as Executive Director of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, leading its mission of strengthening the Church through equipping and engagement, advocating and educating for the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the Church’s life and leadership. Brian also serves as stated clerk of the Synod of Mid-America. He has served previously as pastor of Parkville Presbyterian Church (near Kansas City, Missouri) and as stated clerk of Heartland Presbytery. His writing on matters of faith and theology has appeared in numerous church and independent publications. A graduate of Harvard University and Princeton Theological Seminary, Brian also is host/contributor at NPR affiliate KCUR-FM. He and his partner, Troy Lillebo, live in Kansas City with their two dogs, the recalcitrant Willoughby and the dopey Sage.
Workshops
From Seeing to Action: Being Called to Love in a New Way with Eunice Ingermanson and Matt Strieby
This workshop will explore the journey of two shy retirees who went from very conservative beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community to becoming fierce affirming advocates and organizing a bridge for reconciliation, education, and support between the Christian and LGBTQ+ communities in Southwest Washington. If they could do it, so can you! About the Organization: This workshop is presented in partnership with Called to Love (CTL), a grassroots ecumenical organization in Southwest Washington founded in 2023 by Christian moms. CTL provides a safe space of Christian peer support for parents and families, maintains a list of fully affirming churches, and actively participates in community Pride events to offer education, support, and apologies on behalf of the Church for past harms.
Eunice Ingermanson is a founding member of Called to Love, an ambassador for The Reformation Project, and a board member of PFLAG Vancouver (WA). After her youngest child came out as queer nine years ago, she began working at the intersection of faith, sexuality, and gender identity—supporting local GSAs, advocating at school board meetings, and offering Christian apologies to those hurt by the Church. She also coordinates local screenings of the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture to foster dialogue on inclusion.
Matt Strieby is a life-long Pacific Northwesterner who now lives in Battle Ground, WA. Raised more or less evangelical, he attended various types of churches growing up and during his early adulthood including American Baptist, Nazarene, Lutheran, Friends, as well as non-denominational. When he found out about Called to Love in the early 2020s, he knew it was important to be a part of a group that was building bridges of healing between the church and the queer community. Today, he volunteers for them by doing graphic design and helping with tabling at Pride events in the area. Matt has also recently joined the Portland chapter of Christians Against Christian Nationalism (CACN) which he sees as a natural extension of his work with Called to Love.
Steering the Ship Through Choppy Waters: How Church Leaders Navigate Difficult Conversations with Susan Young Thornton
Conversations are a daily occurrence – they can be casual, planned, unexpected, one-on-one, in a group, among friends and colleagues, or among persons known and unknown in more structured settings. No matter the context, some conversations are difficult, because they touch on subjects on which our conversation partners might hold differing values and beliefs.
Best practices and practical tools for guiding difficult conversations will be offered with particular emphasis on the fraught discussions that we might encounter in congregations, in Session and Presbytery meetings, and in community organizations. Participants will consider several case studies and think together about what kind of response best suits each situation.
Susan Young Thornton has served congregations in the Presbytery of Los Ranchos for over 30 years with a focus on education, nurture and formation. She reads widely in spiritual formation, theology, social justice, church history, and current and future trends. Her work includes recommending resources, consulting with congregations on evaluation, design and implementation, supporting and equipping leaders, and building relationships with and among persons engaged in ministries of spiritual formation. Susan and her late husband are the parents of two adult sons, who with their spouses are raising her three grandsons. She lives in Portland, OR with her Cocker Spaniel puppy, Gracie. In her spare time, she loves to read, garden, and spend time with her “boys.”
LGBTQIA+ 101: Understanding Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
In this one-hour discussion, Gabi will go over specific vocabulary, introduce you to some of her friends, read children’s stories that help us to understand key concepts of gender, explore queer history and its relevance today, and will end with a Q&A to encourage any questions that may arise.
Gabi Marcus (she/they) is the choir director at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton and is an emerging activist in the Portland metropolitan area. Through choir music, story-telling and art, she’s found a voice speaking about her community and inviting people into open discussions about gender, sexuality, queer culture, and more.
Public Issues: Faithfully Responding to Anti-LGBTQ Legislation and Court Rulings with the Rev. TJ Remaley
Legislation targeting LGBTQIA+ people and their families is moving through statehouses and courts at a pace that's hard to track, let alone respond to faithfully. This session draws on real experience organizing interfaith witness to offer practical tools for congregations wherever they sit on the political map. We'll look at how to track legislation affecting your community, how to move from awareness to action without burning out your people, and how to build coalitions that hold even when the political weather turns hostile. You'll leave ready to turn your congregation's welcome into public, sustained witness for your LGBTQIA+ neighbors, in the capitol and beyond it.
The Rev. TJ Remaley (he/him) is the pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho, and has previously served congregations in South Carolina and Florida. He currently serves as Co-Moderator of the Covenant Network board. In life and in ministry, TJ is a bi+ advocate, cat lover, news junkie, theatre fan, enneagram enthusiast, amateur foodie, and wannabe barista.
How Welcoming Are We: The Presbyterian Church’s Journey Toward Inclusion with the Rev. Brian Ellison. See bio above.
For decades, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) wrestled with what welcome for LGBTQIA+ people should actually mean — through contentious General Assembly debates, court cases, and failed amendments — before eventually removing ordination barriers, affirming marriage equality, and committing to non-discrimination. This workshop traces that journey, tracing the theological and political turning points that got us here. But policy change was never the finish line: many congregations that would say "all are welcome" still have real gaps between official inclusion and everyday practice. Led by a longtime denominational advocate for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, this session offers an honest look at how far the church has come — and how far it still has to go.
Joining Our Mind and Heart: Biblical and Theological Foundations for Inclusion with the Rev. Katherine Pater. See bio above.
Many of us are sadly familiar with the "clobber passages": those sections of Scripture that seem to condemn same-sex behavior and relationships. But does the Bible actually condemn LGBTQIA+ people? Or might the Bible actually offer us an expansive understanding of both Divine love and human relationships? In this workshop, we will not only deconstruct and reconstruct our understanding of challenging Biblical texts, but offer an framework for understanding God's plan of salvation in a more inclusive way.
Expanding Our Language: How We Talk about Queerness in Church and Culture with the Rev. Marcella Auld Glass. See bio below.
Worship
Our time together in worship will lift up expansive prayers, music and liturgy with preaching by the Rev. Marcella Auld Glass.
Marcella Auld Glass is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Before joining Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, CA, she served as Pastor & Head of Staff at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Boise, Idaho. She has served as Co-Moderator of the Board of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, Planned Parenthood's Clergy Advocacy Board, Columbia Theological Seminary's Alumni Board, and the San Francisco Interfaith Council. She occasionally blogs at www.marciglass.com.