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Transgender pastor fosters inclusive church to reinforce that everyone is welcome
Across the U.S., many faiths and religions are working toward being more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community. But, according to the Pew Research Center, the majority of Christians still feel a person’s gender is determined by their sex assigned at birth.
The “CBS Mornings” series, “The State of Spirituality with Lisa Ling,” explores unique paths to faith, spirituality and religion in the U.S. The latest installment of the series focuses on a Lutheran pastor in California who is trying to form an inclusive community by just being himself.
Drew Stever lives in California with his partner Hazel, their three children and two dogs. He said his life is pretty average.
“We play board games, and we garden and we make art,” he said.
Stever is a transgender man and an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
While some Christian denominations have evolved to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people, the acceptance of transgender clergy has been much slower. In 2015, the ELCA ordained its first transgender priest and several more followed, including Stever. Transgender clergy also serve in the Methodist, Episcopal and Presbyterian churches. But most denominations and churches still forbid it, citing the Bible verse Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Stever said it is hard to relate this verse to modern times, because it wasn’t written for 2024.
“It was written for then,” he said. “When we read in the scripture that God created, man and woman, yes. And God created everyone else as well.”
At Stever’s home church, Hope Lutheran in Hollywood, congregants told us when he says “all are welcome,” he really means it.
“Pastor Drew is a good pastor and I think he focuses on Jesus’ commands, we should love God and love our neighbor as ourselves,” congregant Steven Novak said.
Congregant Emma Halbert added, “Pastor Drew just brings such a light and life and just encapsulates everything we’ve always believed in in learning to really spread a message that is just love.”
Raised Lutheran
Stever was born and raised Lutheran in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Growing up, he also went to Catholic school and attended church several days a week.
“I grew up female and in the female context and I just never felt like that worked for me,” he said. “I would say there was also a lot of internal turmoil.”
Throughout his childhood, Stever said he felt a lot of anger due to his gender dysphoria.
“There were definitely times where I like, if I can’t exist in one way, I don’t want to exist at all,” he said. “There were definitely periods where I thought I would just be better off not alive because I did feel a lot of pain.”
Stever credits a homeroom teacher at his Catholic school for first introducing him to a more compassionate Christian theology—accepting of everyone. Armed with this new way of seeing his faith, he eventually realized he was being called to become a pastor.
Transitioning during seminary
Stever entered seminary as a woman, but did not leave that way. It was summer 2016, and leading up to the election, anti-transgender rhetoric was ramping up. But Stever said, he could no longer deny who he’s always been: a man.
“There was a moment where I woke up in the morning…and the words that came to my mind was ‘you don’t have to be angry anymore’,” he said. “And I almost feel like God just took a snowball and just like threw it at my face.”
Stever’s family and friends were supportive of his transition, but he did begin receiving hate, mostly online. He has concerns talking about his journey publicly with CBS News.
“My family’s safety is probably my top priority,” he said, adding, “And I believe for those who need to hear, will hear.”
Feeling safe in church
Stever’s spouse Hazel is also a Lutheran pastor. She knows firsthand the discrimination many can face in church.
“There’s a lot of people in the Christian faith who don’t even believe women can be pastors,” she said. But Hazel added that she and Stever really are, “quite boring,” despite what some may think.
Stever hopes by being himself, he can help more people feel seen and safe in church.
“I would say specifically to folks of color, to people living with disabilities, people who are LGBTQ+…you are good. Nothing is wrong with you. You are so good. And you don’t need the church to tell you that,” he said.
Stever has a pride flag hanging outside his church, shortly after CBS News filmed there, he said someone ripped it down and damaged it. But he put the flag back up and said he is, “not deterred by one person’s small worldview.”
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
CBS Philadelphia
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.