Upcoming Lavender Lunches

Lavender Lunches are informal discussions that take place at the Pacific School of Religion during the academic year. They began in the Fall of 2000, and have included events ranging from performance arts to informal talks on a variety of topics related to religion and LGBT issues. Anyone who is interested may attend these free discussions. Please bring your own lunch.

All Lavender Lunches take place Thursday afternoons, 12:30pm to 1:30pm, at Mudd Hall 100, Pacific School of Religion Campus, Berkeley, California.

Here are the Events

Steps and Strategies for Congregational Inclusion of Transpeople

May 9, 2013 at 1:00pm to 2:00pm

PSR Mudd Building, Room 100

In this workshop we will look at steps and some strategies of bringing your congregation to a place of inclusion of transgender people through awareness, understanding, allyship, and advocacy. This workshop touches on the typical "Trans 101" work but goes deeper. This event is cosponsored by the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations. 

CLGS Lavender Lunch: HIV, Theology, & Spiritual Practice

December 4, 2012 at 1:00pm to 2:00pm
PSR Mudd Building, Room 100

Rev. Jim Mitulski, Director of Worship at Pacific School of Religion, will address the theological and ethical question as raised over the last quarter century in regard to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Because HIV/ AIDS have disproportionately affected social communities deemed expendable by the dominant culture, it reveals where there is racism, sexism, classism and homophobia in every society in which it is found. 

Being Transgender is Kosher: Beyond the Binary in Ancient Jewish Texts

October 11, 2012 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm

Pacific School of Religion, Mudd Building Room 100 

Gender diversity is becoming more visible in our communities, and there is an explosion of Jewish scholarship and study about gender categories beyond the male-female binary in ancient Jewish texts.  In this interactive workshop, we will explore our own experiences of gender identity, and use that as jumping off point for diving into texts from the Mishna, Talmud and Hebrew Bible that examine the complexity and variety of human genders.  

CLGS Lavender Lunch: San Francisco Night Ministry

April 12, 2012 at 1:00pm to 2:00pm

PSR Mudd Building, Room 100 

The SF Night Ministry has been providing non-judgmental and compassionate  pastoral care on the streets of San Francisco since 1964. The people we minister to range from our homeless sisters and brothers to our friends in the bars and pubs as well as those in the cafes, diners and donut shops. Come and hear stories of two ministers who have walked into a bar as part of their ministry.

Lavender Lunch: See the Holy: Spirituality in the Art of David Wojnarowicz 

February 16, 2012 at 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Mudd Building, Room 100, Pacific School of Religion

Queer Activism, Queer Scholarship: Liminality, Identity, and the "Good Gays"

November 17, 2011 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm

PSR Campus, Mudd Building Room100 

In contemporary queer religious scholarship, the category of liminality has emerged as a site for positioning queer identity within religious frames. Yet out in the activist world, fixed identities ("born this way") have been shown to be more politically effective. When do our activist interests and scholarly interests intersect, collide, and fight with one another? Does a queer approach to text lead to a particular political affiliation?

CLGS Lavender Lunch: Theology of Reproductive Justice

October 6, 2011 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm

In Pacific School of Religion, Mudd 103  

 

What does it mean to be a pro-choice person of faith? What are the theologies and spiritual/scriptural resources that ...

CLGS Open House: Lavender Lunch & Reception

September 8, 2011 from 12:30pm to 6:00pm

CLGS Open House, Lavender Lunch: seeQers and Social Justice Education 

September 8, 2011, 12:30pm-1:30pm,  Mudd 100 , Berkeley, CA 
Rev. Jay Johnson ...

Why Queer Theory (Sometimes) Fails Transgender People and How Theology Can Help

May 5, 2011 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm

Come here Peter Forsberg talk about his current research in Transgender Issues and Christian Theology. Peter is a doctoral student at The University of Uppsala in Sweden and Visiting Scholar with CLGS this semester. This event will take place on the PSR campus in Mudd 100.

Queering Liturgy: LGBT and Beyond!

April 14, 2011 at 12:30pm to 1:30pm

Join us in the Mudd Building, Room 100 for this Lavender Lunch to learn about Siddur Shaar Zahav, the newly published prayerbook created by San Francisco's LGBT synagogue.

Ancient prayers and brand new liturgies in English and Hebrew, including

• Reading on discovering your sexual orientation

• Marriage equality blessing and blessings for non-traditional families

• Jewish poetry from all over the world and new prayers with LGBTQ themes

• Prayers for non-believers and agnostics