Hello, my name is Ha Na Park, currently a Co-Lead Minister at Broad View United.
In 2016, at the time of the shooting at the Pulse Club in Orlando, Florida, I was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and even in such a remote city, many LGBTQ communities, individuals and acquaintances experienced deep grief and terror. When I first heard the news, I found myself in "closet" in the office room of the church where I was working. In that room alone, I read the news on the Internet and read the posts of deep sadness and pain posted by my acquaintances and friends on Facebook with a bursting heart. I thought, 'Just because I'm inside the door of this church doesn't mean I'm safe. Just because I'm not in a position where I could be physically threatened doesn't mean I'm safe. Unless I am connected to community, I am never safe, emotionally and spiritually, in my deeper realms.'
On the day of the shooting, I decided to contact the Rainbow Resource Center in Winnipeg, which I had heard of. I found out that New Pride, a group of LGBTQ newcomers, was meeting every other Friday at the Rainbow Resource Center. I texted the number provided, and got in touch with my future friend, Daniel. I pulled it through. So to speak, it was the first time I came out. Daniel didn't miss my simple, short text. Literally, he held my hand, and lifted me up. That's how my queer and spiritual journey started.
Over the years since, with the New Pride group, I have learned to feel, to befriend, and to embrace 'safety' in the identity of the community of "Queer people of colour". In 2018, at a conference called "Two Spirit and Queer People of Color Call to Conversation with Allies" hosted by the University of Winnipeg, one question led me to new projects. A friend who is queer and comes from a Muslim family background in Laos threw out, "What would happen if I go to church to hear you preach? What would it mean if I worship at church? I hope I have a safe space where I can experience spiritual nurture." His open-ended question challenged and inspired me to ask and respond, collaboratively. I wanted to express it in concrete action, and therefore, co-organized and led two projects with friends:
2019 Queer and Faithful Conference and the 2021 Korean Rainbow United.
Currently (2023), I am the co-lead minister of Broad View United, a progressive and queer-affirming United church, in Victoria, Canada, since September 2022. I would like to share my passion with you to co-create and co-facilitate the safe space for Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ Christians, queer people of faith, queer people of colour, and LGBTQ+ newcomers in Victoria.
I invite you to the zoom conversation gathering, Inter-View: Interspiritual & Queering.
We are meeting on the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm.
Inter-View is a safe space for Broad View United's queer and transgender members and allies, a community where you can experience a warm welcome, learn from each other, and provide mutual support.
I firmly believe that each person's unique spiritual journey, queer identity, culture, race, migration and mental health, that create who we are as the whole package, are diverse and connectable shining paths that bring us closer to the wholeness of God within us.
Especially, keeping the three identities - faith, queerness and race/culture - 'as one' means that this spiritual and queer journey is, in essence, inter-faith, inter-cultural and inter-spiritual. The Spiritual roots you have in your cultures are significant.
If you are interested in finding out more or wanting to meet, please contact me through "Contact" on this website. You may also email me directly at HaNa@broadviewunited.com. I would love to hear from you.
Ha Na
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