Grandmother God

Abstract

This poem is about my grandparents, who were active in the early days of LGBTQ+ advocacy in the Mennonite Church. They and other advocates in the mid-to-late 1980s began the work of trying to make room for LGBTQ+ people in the Mennonite Church. I am deeply grateful for the previous generations of advocates and justice workers who began paving the way for the level of acceptance and welcome that I do get to experience today. My own grandparents have taught me something of God: God is a grandmother. She is fiercely loving of her grandchildren and stands up to anyone who would exclude them. More than anything, she wants her beloved grandchildren to thrive in a church that loves them as much as she does.