Pastor comes out as trans in moving service: ‘I’m giving up pretending to be a man’
Phillippa Phaneuf came out as a trans woman during a morning service on 23 November. (North Chili United Methodist Church)
Phillippa Phaneuf came out as a trans woman during a morning service on 23 November. (North Chili United Methodist Church)
New York-based Pastor Phillippa Phaneuf has come out as a trans woman in a moving service.
The Methodist pastor at North Chili United Methodist Church in Rochester, New York, came out during the church’s morning worship service on Sunday, 23 November.
The church website states it’s a place “where all are genuinely welcome, loved and accepted as God welcomes, loves, and accepts all”.
Addressing her congregation from the church pulpit, while donning a rainbow stole, Phaneuf shared her personal news at the end of the service.
‘This is gonna be shocking for some of us, as to what this all means’
She began: “I am inviting you to join me in a season of creative transformation for myself, and, I think, for all of us.”
Phaneuf then shared a medical analogy: “Imagine if your doctor came and told you that your quality and outlook on life could transform exponentially to the positive. Would you listen to that doctor? If you felt God’s Holy Spirit surrounding you in ways that you haven’t felt in years, would you have a sense that that might be something that God was okay with? Yeah.”
“The best way to put this is that I’m not becoming a woman, I’m giving up pretending to be a man,” she said.
“This is gonna be shocking for some of us, as to what this all means. But this is where we invite God’s Holy Spirit to grant us grace and peace.”
She then went on to share that she’s been receiving hormone replacement therapy for the past three months, adding that it has led her to feel “truly happy for the first time in a long time”.
Phaneuf emphasised that her transition wouldn’t change her devotion to the ministry, or her personality.
But a welcome change, she shared, would be that the church could become “known within the community as an even safer space for people who have felt marginalized.”
Phaneuf said she has been supported by all in the church, but said her parents are currently hesitant to support her.
During a Sunday morning worship on 30 November, Phaneuf wore a stole in the colours of the trans flag and looked radiant as she addressed the congregation after coming out.
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