By Sarah Gallaher | Staff Writer
The Waco Pride Network hosted its annual Out on the Brazos event Saturday at Brazos Park East. This year, doctrine and diversity intersected as five churches attended to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Out on the Brazos began in 2017 under the direction of Metropolitan Community Church Pastor Charley Garrison. Garrison said he wanted to create a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate pride. So, along with the Brazos Planning Committee, he revived Waco pride in the form of a community picnic.
“About 200 to 300 people showed up,” Garrison said. “Since then, it’s grown to this.”
After the success of the community picnic, the Waco Pride Network formed and established Out on the Brazos as an annual pride event. The event hosted local vendors and sponsors, including Metropolitan Community Church. Garrison said he and the congregation wanted to welcome the LGBTQ+ community to the church by participating in the event.
“Overall, our mission is to spread the word of God’s love for all people, including the LGBTQIA community,” Garrison said.
Over the years, other churches have expressed missions similar to Metropolitan Community Church.
“When I came, our church was the only [welcoming and affirming one] in town,” Garrison said. “I was the only gay minister in the area, and now I can say that there’s at least five officially welcoming and affirming churches, and I know of three other out, gay ministers in the area. … It’s becoming normalized.”
According to Garrison, this year’s Out on the Brazos included more churches than ever before. Five churches attended the event: Metropolitan Community Church, Seventh and James Baptist Church, University Baptist Church, Central Presbyterian Church Waco and Lake Shore Baptist Church.
Seventh and James Baptist Church, located behind Waco Hall, attended Out on the Brazos for the first time this year after solidifying its stance on the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We finally, in February of this year, voted on our inclusion statement, but the inclusion statement was to just confirm this is already who we are,” Pastor Erin Conaway said. “So I think we’ve been an affirming church for a long time. We’ve just never been out about it.”
University Baptist Church began attending Out on the Brazos in 2022. It voted to welcome full inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community in spring 2019.
“Our mission at UBC is to love God, embrace beauty and live life to the fullest,” community pastor Toph Whisnant said. “That’s our benediction, and we see that by being inclusive of all people, and that’s a way to show God’s inclusive love. Our goal was to do that through our actions and our words and to create a community that really embraces the life that God has given us.”
Additionally, both Seventh and James Baptist Church and University Baptist Church allow members of the LGBTQ+ community to serve in all aspects of leadership, including pastoral roles.
Although five churches attended Out on the Brazos this year, they still exist in the minority of religious organizations in Waco. Garrison said he welcomes conversation with those who oppose same-sex marriage and the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’ve been the pastor there for 24 years now,” Garrison said. “During that time, I have experienced a little bit of [backlash], but it’s surprising that it doesn’t happen nearly as much as you might think. … They don’t really come at me a lot to my face, but those who do, I invite conversation, and I don’t try to change anyone’s mind. I just try to keep an open heart and an open mind to them.”
The religious presence at Out on the Brazos put the inclusivity of these churches into action. Conaway said local churches showing support for the LGBTQ+ community brought sexuality and Christianity into conversation with one another.
“Lots of churches say they welcome everybody, but they don’t mean it,” Conaway said. “What we heard from our own members in the LGBTQ community is that you have to say it. You have to be a vocal ally, and being here is a part of that work.”
