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Covenant Conversation: Cascades

  • Westminster Presbyterian Church 1624 Northeast Hancock Street Portland, OR, 97212 United States (map)

Covenant Conversation: Cascades

When Did We See You?

Recognizing God’s Image in All God’s People

On August 29, nearly a hundred Presbyterians from across Cascades Presbytery and the country gathered at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Portland, Oregon, for Covenant Conversation: Cascades.

The day opened with CNP Executive Director Brian Ellison moderating a conversation with Elder Michele DeClue, the Rev. Katherine Pater, and the Rev. TJ Remaley, with more information and video available below. The full panel discussion and morning plenary can be viewed here.

Diverse workshops deepened these conversations and offered practical ways for churches and church members to offer a wider welcome in their communities. Scroll down to learn more about individual workshops and presenter, or access the following resources here:

The day closed in worship with the Rev. Marcella Auld Glass preaching.

You can view worship here and access the bulletin here.

Plenary Panel: “When Did We See You?”

Moderated by the Rev. Brian Ellison, the morning plenary featured Michele DeClue, the Rev. TJ Remaley 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.

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.

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 explored 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! This workshop was 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 were offered with particular emphasis on the fraught discussions that we might encounter in congregations, in Session and Presbytery meetings, and in community organizations. Participants considered several case studies and thought together about what kind of response best suited 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 reviewed specific vocabulary, read children’s stories that help us to understand key concepts of gender, explored queer history and its relevance today, and ended with a Q&A.

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. See bio above.

Legislation targeting LGBTQIA+ people and their families has been moving through statehouses and courts at a pace that's hard to track, let alone respond to faithfully. This session drew on real experience organizing interfaith witness to offer practical tools for congregations wherever they sit on the political map. We looked 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. Participants left equipped to turn their congregation's welcome into public, sustained witness for their LGBTQIA+ neighbors, in the capitol and beyond it.

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 traced that journey, highlighting the theological and political turning points that got us here.

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 offered 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 not only deconstructed and reconstructed our understanding of challenging Biblical texts, but offered a 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.

The words we use shape how welcome people actually feel — and language around gender and sexuality is evolving faster than many of our congregations are used to. In this workshop, we explored how to talk about God, people, and LGBTQ+ identity with both theological integrity and genuine hospitality, moving past fear of "getting it wrong" toward language that reflects real curiosity and care. Participants left with practical tools for worship and for having these conversations in everyday church life.

Worship

Our time together in worship lifted 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.

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Building a Real Welcome for All God's People