Edina Community Church in Minnesota has gotten the limelight for the wrong reasons after one of its videos went viral on social media.
It all started when a pastor from the Edina Community Lutheran Church on June 27th started reciting a Sparkle Creed, which was apparently uploaded to their youtube channel. In her recitation, co-pastor Anna Helgen could be seen calling god “non-binary” and alleging that Jesus Christ had “two dads.”
Watch the viral video here:
In the viral video, Helgen can be seen reciting “The Sparkle Creed,” drawing huge criticism and debate online. The ones who were aware of it couldn’t resist but lashed out at the Church, accusing it of ‘Blasphemy,’ while others were left completely clueless of the term. But what does it even mean?
What Is the Sparkle Creed?
Sparkle Creed is a modified version of the Apostles Creed, made with the intention to include the LGBTQ community and diversity in its draft. It was drafted by Rachel Small-Stokes, a queer-identifying minister of the United Church of Christ, in 2021.
But what is more fascinating, however, is the origin story of the Sparkle Creed. What seemed like an error became a hot topic of discussion after Rachel found her voice-to-text wrongly translating the “Apostle’s Creed” as “The Sparkle Creed” during one of her recitations to her colleague, and Rachel decided to draft it, stating that it went in sync with the Pride month.
What was a hit among progressive Congregations initially did not register well with the masses as they found it to be a complete antithesis of the original “Aristotle’s Creed.” The debate soon started getting steam after some netizens found out about varying differences between the two creeds. While Apostles Creed is considered to be one of the most essential doctrines of Christianity, the Sparkle Creed’s contrasting belief is what caused stirred debate on the internet.
What Is the Controversy of the Sparkle Creed?
It is the striking difference between both creeds that have made most netizens uncomfortable. While the Apostle’s Creed professes, “We believe in God, the Father Almighty,” the Sparkle Creed says, “I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural.”
As the original creed declared Jesus Christ to be the only son of Almighty, Rachel Stokes’ version implies that Jesus Christ wore a fabulous tunic and had “two dads” and saw everyone as a “sibling-child of God” and “love is love.”
Not just these, several other disparities between the two have irked many Christians, so much so that they even labeled the Queer version as “Satanic,” stating that it was an “unforgivable sin.” Some alleged the cult of spreading “blasphemy,” adding that it was an attempt to mock their faith.
Throughout the Apostle’s scripture, God revealed himself with “Masculine” pronouns, as against the modified version that argues that God’s pronouns were “plural.”
Rachel’s version that paints Jesus in a tunic dress and as someone who was raised by a “gay couple” also deviates from Apostle’s Creed formulation that states Jesus’s “miraculous conception” and “virgin birth.”
As the viral debate has rekindled the controversy again, what is your opinion on it? Do you think the emerging “wokeness” should be tamed?
Do you think the triggered responses to the video are justified? Or is the prevalence of homophobia that has irked the netizens?
Let us know what you think!
