Conversations with Rev Dawn Bennett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rev Dawn Bennett.

Hi Pastor Dawn thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began lay ministry and advocacy in the late ’90s. By the time my second child was in high school, he came out as a lesbian and transitioned to his full self about six years ago.

During this time, my dedication to creating inclusive and diverse spaces grew to a fever pitch. First in juvenile incarceration and eventually to a public advocacy platform for the LGBTQ+ community. Also during that time, I experienced divorce from my kid’s father after which time I moved closer to the city. I was clearly on my own journey of liberation and seeking. I came out as bisexual, queer during seminary.

Seminary was the result of many years of public advocacy and breaking barriers to healthy faith in spiritual settings. Today, I serve as an ordained pastor in the ELCA Lutheran Church, the most progressive of mainline Protestant denominations in the Christian Church. The journey has not been easy or always enjoyable. Over the years, I have lost 100% of my peer circle, faith circle, and over half of my family circle. Nonetheless, I remain committed to serving LGBTQ+ people: youth and adults and their respective families, whom I call Rainbow Families.

Every day, I am honored to journey with people on various paths of discovery. Whether we talk about personhood or faith, this journey and partnership always teaches me more than I realize at the moment. It is quite an honor to hold sacred secrets and truths and to be able to share God’s unconditional love with vulnerable people. We all need more of that.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Becoming and serving as a pastor has been the most challenging thing I have done, second only to raising my children. On any given day, I receive affirmations and threats. Many Christians, especially here in the Deep South where religion is cultural, [actually] believe it is “illegal” to be Gay and Christian simultaneously.

I remain committed to exposing lies told about God and in God’s name. I will at all costs continue to speak truth to power; sometimes the cost is very high, most days it’s tolerable. As a bisexual female pastor, I have lukewarm acceptance in my own family as I was raised in a Catholic faith family and that is always a bumpy ride. I resolve it by reminding myself I was called by God (not my family) to serve as a pastor.

When my child came out as lesbian I lost about half my friend group. When he transitioned I lost the other half. But, today I have some of the most wonderfully fully inclusive people around me. I am surrounded by people and friends who realize that we come in all colors, like crayons in a box, because that is what keeps the world interesting and filled with possibilities to appreciate beauty.

The biggest challenge to serving as pastor of a faith collective that centers the lives of LGBTQ+ people is that we have been traumatized by “religion” that for many folks, they have a tangled mess to unwind before we can gain new perspectives on our belovedness and holiness. There will always be more need than I have resources to serve.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a pastor people often ask me “what I do.” I say, “I create space for hard conversations.” To me, what we need is safer spaces for people to own their truth, whatever that means for them. So, I see myself as a bridgebuilder and space creator. My niche area of ministry is trauma-informed pastoral care and teaching on religious trauma as it relates to the LGBTQ+ Community. I am part of this community myself so I am leading by example.

Faith is part of us as humans. We all want to know two things a.) how we got here, and b.) where we’re going when we leave. So, my role as a pastor is to help folx navigate that space through questioning, exploring, and meditating on what a healthy faith life could look like (especially when a person was raised in a religiously conservative environment and was raised by belief in God’s wrath instead of God’s grace).

I’m likely known best for my hashtag… #holyhellion. This work of ministry is not for the faint of heart. This area of the country is not kind to anyone who is not white and/or heterosexual. I will spend every day of my ministry career serving people who need to hear a healthy word about themselves: you were created with a purpose; you are beautiful and holy; everything God made is lovely, including you; you are not broken or sinful or outside. Rather, you are whole you are human (and therefore grace is your free gift) and you are loved immensely by the God who created you.

I am most proud of my children. Raising them has been at times like being in a fishbowl and at other times we’re a “normal” family. At the same time, we have had several traumas to work through of various kinds and we’ve done it independently and collectively. My children are my pride and joy. They teach me so much and I’m thankful to be their mom.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is that people are honored for their createdness and that they are given the freedom and space to live their best life as authentically as possible. It is imperative that we create an intentional space for people to explore what it means to be human. There is a no recipe to follow and there is no competition (despite what the media tells).

It matters to me because I too am one such human. I need space to explore my own truths. Every day we wake up (each and all of us) is a new day to discover something new from yesterday. All we can do is choose to be the best version of today’s self. So, we have to have a space to figure out who that is and what we need to do to fulfill our needs that day.

When we do that with intention, we will automatically be moved to allow others to do the same. I realize this may sound utopian, but actually, it isn’t. We all want the best for ourselves and much of that “best” is not a material object to be purchased but a personal decision to be made.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.thetablenashville.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_table_nashville/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetablenashville
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO8cV6q54sFFLKijTgWQ2yQ

Image Credits
Nathan Morgan, Emily Allen, and Alan Poizner