Democratic congressional candidate and Lutheran minister Sarah Trone Garriott, who is challenging Republican Rep. Zach Nunn in Iowa’s Third Congressional District, delivered a 2021 sermon for Downtown Disciples, an organization that explicitly rejects the label “church” and repeatedly describes itself on its website as #BlackLivesMatter and LGBTQIA+ affirming.
In October 2021, Trone Garriott gave a sermon in a park for Downtown Disciples: Progressive Faith Community.
Asked in its FAQ whether it is a church, Downtown Disciples calls that a “Tough question!” and says it thinks of itself as a “spiritual community” and a “movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.” The group says its mission is to “do justice, love mercy, and move humbly,” and explains that it rents worship space rather than owning property because “the church is made up of God’s people, not brick and mortar.” It says it meets people in places including community centers, coffee shops, bakeries, the Capitol steps, social clubs, breweries, laundromats, parks, and prisons.
Elsewhere in its FAQ, Downtown Disciples answers “YES!” when asked whether it is Christian, while adding that “people of all faiths and no faith” are welcome to gather and work for justice with the group. The group says its “unapologetically progressive identity is grounded in a wholly Christian context” and that it follows “the loving, inclusive way of Jesus.”
It also says it is “saddened and angered by the extremist, exclusive, condemning, and violent nature of Christianity entangled in imperialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, classism, heterosexism, sexism, and ableism,” and says “dominant forms of Christianity are steeped in systems of power and oppression.”
The group also describes itself as an “unapologetically progressive Christian community” that is “LGBTQIA+ affirming” and says it proclaims “#BlackLivesMatter.” Under its “what to expect” section, Downtown Disciples says it uses “inclusive and expansive language for the Divine and humanity.”
Downtown Disciples hosts a “Queer and Christian Book Club” and states that its worship is always LGBTQIA+ affirming. Its child and youth ministry includes a college student leader who uses “any pronouns” and says she is “thrilled to work with the youth.” The group’s nursery attendant, who works with young children, lists pronouns as “they/them” and references the joys of “teaching children.”
The group also touts a partnership with the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund, which provides grants to transgender and nonbinary individuals seeking “gender-affirming care.” The website does not list an age restriction.
Rather than promoting Christian content, Downtown Disciples’ Facebook is dedicated to LGBTQ activism. They promote the “Iowa Trans Lives Festival” that is described as an “all-ages festival” showcasing creative work from “transgender, nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender-non conforming adults and youth.”
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft told Breitbart News, “A church that doesn’t ‘identify’ as a church, while being obsessed with woke nonsense like 15 genders and Black Lives Matter, is perfect for Sarah Trone Garriott. She is a sick freak who wants to talk to other people’s children about joining her transgender-for-all cult.”
Trone Garriott’s appearance with the group is consistent with her record of left-wing comments and votes. She has said Christians who oppose transgender surgeries for minors are racist, defended Wiccan prayer at the Iowa statehouse by arguing that Jesus engaged with pagans, called private Christian schools “segregation academies” that can create “white enclaves,” and complained that Iowa’s leaders are “mostly white, mostly Christian, and mostly older men.”
In a 2023 Methodist church speech, she said it was “uncomfortable” to see “faith and political power” collide, said religion and political violence in public life felt “very threatening,” tied “Christian nationalism” to “white patriarchy,” and said Billy Graham “really modeled this” through an image of “white, Christian masculinity.”
Trone Garriott has also voted against bills barring biological males from girls’ sports, restricting gender transition procedures for minors, limiting LGBTQ-related instruction in K-6 classrooms, and banning books depicting sex acts in public schools. She cosponsored legislation that would begin sex education in kindergarten and later refused to explain that position when questioned.
She has repeatedly backed transgender-related causes, including a 2020 post saying transgender people may experience food insecurity and may not feel safe using food pantries. She also defended reading a Muslim prayer in the Iowa Senate, arguing Christian voices had been “overwhelmingly represented” and that minority voices should be elevated. In a later op-ed, Trone Garriott wrote that beginning theological studies at Harvard immediately after the September 11 attacks made her more aware of “anti-Muslim bigotry” and its harm.
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