Jennifer Noricks

“This [Two-Spirit] identity predates the birth of Christ. It has and will always exist. This identity is ancient.”¹

~ Bobby Sanchez (Instagram: @bobbysanchezmusic)

Context

Native American Ministries Sunday is a Special Sunday in The United Methodist Church, occurring each year on the third Sunday of Easter. This is an opportunity not only to provide financial support to Native American ministries, but also to highlight the existence and work of queer Native American people.

Devotional

 “In God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them.” (Genesis 1:27, CEB) God’s image encompasses all genders. Long before Europeans colonized North America, Native American people accepted and made room for Two-Spirit individuals. The late Lynn Young, a Native American Traditionalist/Christian and faith leader, wrote:

"I am a Two-Spirit person.

'Two Spirit' is an identity that is uniquely and wholly, Indigenous. Two Spirit is a term widely used by Indigenous people who identify somewhere in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual community, and in some cases, Two Spirit identifies a person’s gender.

The term Two Spirit encompasses my sexual identity, my gender identity, and my Indigenous identity. Two Spirit is my gender. There is an innately female spirit within me, and an innately male spirit within me. They coexist in a framework that is not an either/or, but rather a both/and.

In the place where the male and the female come together deep in the core of my Isness, they have grown together; they are woven and twisted around each other in an entirely beautiful way, creating also a comingled [sic] identity—all with one solidly rooted core." 

While many Americans influenced by western philosophy continue to operate in gender binaries and heteronormativity, Two-Spirit people remind us that gender expansiveness and diverse sexual orientations have always existed. 

“There is no male or female. We are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28) God’s love subsumes gender. This is good news for all people who feel the pressure of gender roles: For those who mask their gentleness because they fear not being masculine enough. For those who make their bodies and their presence smaller because it is an expectation of femininity. For those whose romantic love has been suppressed because of gender. We are not defined by or limited by gender. We are new creations in Christ: Holy, wholly complete people in whom God’s love is made known.

Prayer

We give thanks for our Two Spirit siblings who remind us that binaries are a human construct and are an inadequate representation of an infinitely complex Creator. May the Great Liberator set us free from the pressure to perform gender. May we nurture our inner strength and celebrate our softness. May we be gracious leaders and inspired followers. May each person flourish in relationship with the Spirit and with one another as Divine Love is uniquely expressed in us. Amen.

Liturgy

Confession and Lament

If your church is like mine – attended primarily by descendants of immigrants – the harm done to Indigenous people must be named. The United Methodist Church, all the way back to John Wesley, is deeply entangled in this history.

• This bidding prayer written by John Henson is one of confession, repentance, and intercession.
• Native American United Methodist leaders wrote an open letter to the bishops naming ways that the denomination may embody repentance.

Litany

In its Litany of Queer Saints, QSpirit reminds us that Two-Spirit people “whose indigenous cultures recognized alternative genders and whose tribal nations continue today despite colonization, inspire us to reclaim gender diversity.”

Visio Divina

Kittredge Cherry highlights artwork featuring LGBTQ+ Native Americans which may be used for reflection in worship.

Prayer

Lynn Young offers this Native Traditionalist prayer for transgender justice:

Great Mystery, We lift up our prayers in the ancient ways of our people. Lead us to the path of wisdom and understanding; let all of us live together in sacred kinship.

We hold in love and sacredness all transgender people as sacred children of your creation, who all too often live in fear under the weight of violence and close-mindedness. We hold in love and prayer all of the ways in which transgender people have survived and thrived in this world designed by you for peace, but that exists now in hostility. We hold in love and prayer all who have ever felt the crushing weight of oppression, the invisibility of disregard, or the searing pain that results from denials of their very humanity.

We pray for trans people everywhere, your sacred children. Remind them, and remind us all, that when we gaze at our reflection in a still pond or a mirror’s surface a manifestation of your divine spirit gazes back at us. We pray that the energy of the four winds, and the power of our ancestors bring the spirit of wisdom and compassion to leaders, advocates, and trans people.

As we walk the path of sacredness each day, guide our feet to what is good, wise, and right; help us walk in a good way. May we all be agents of wisdom and compassion, offering hope to trans and gender nonconforming youth that is too often hard to come by.

Great Spirit, fill us with light, warm us with your teachings. Help us to walk the soft Earth with clear sight, as loving relatives to all creation. Aho.

Inspiration

Kittredge Cherry tells the stories of We’wha and Pine Leaf, Two-Spirit leaders in their communities. How can their courage inspire others to live authentically, using their gifts and talents without restraint? (Note: This is the same link as the Visio Divina listed above. Click on the link and scroll further down the page for their stories.)

Poem

Poem: “Anciety Identity” written and performed by Bobby Sanchez (she/they). Bobby identifies as trans and two-spirit to honor her indigenous ancestry, from the Wari Nation in Ayacucho. 

Sources

1. Bobby Sanchez, “Ancient Identity,” Instagram, accessed April 29, 2026, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ9KRUREU0O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== ↩︎
2. Lynn Young, “Walking in Two Worlds: A Queer Spiritual Journey,” Believe Out Loud, accessed April 11, 2026, https://www.believeoutloud.com/voices/article/walking-in-two-worlds-a-queer-spiritual-journey/ ↩︎