The church said that it wanted attendees “to wear garments/accessories that make you feel 100 per cent like the best version of yourself.”
A newly-ordained Chicago pastor at St Luke’s Lutheran Church on Logan Square donned full drag for a recent sermon, leading Bible study class for kids, and the internet is buzzing.
Of course, the usual critics and naysayers came immediately leaping out the woodwork to brand it inappropriate and sick, but they missed the significance of the statement… joy.
Aaron Musser held the service on December 13 and it was promoted on the church Facebook beforehand: “TOMORROW—Seminarian Aaron is our preacher, and he’s preaching in drag! We invite you to wear garments/accessories that make you feel 100%, like the best version of yourself.”
“The sixth Sunday of Advent is rejoice Sunday. It’s a chance for us to rehearse what a life of joy could look like,” wrote Musser. “It’s a dress rehearsal. Preaching in drag is a theological reflection on joy: Joy overflows so abundantly, it can’t help but make itself known. Weaving together the day’s theme, queer theory, and lectionary texts, we will ‘dress rehearse’ for joy.”
In a following post on the day of the event, proudly displayed with pictures of Musser in full drag, a new Facebook post (below) read: “Today, we consider what it might be like to have a dress rehearsal for the kind of joy awaiting us on the other side of Advent. It’s been so hard to know what that joy will be, because it’s been so long since some of us have been joyful. It’s been a difficult and tiring couple of years.”