The bishop spoke the traditional words as she placed her hands on the new deacon named M with just a slight difference from the way those words have always been spoken before. “Pour out your Holy Spirit upon M,” the bishop said. “Send them now to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, to announce the

reign of God and to equip the church for ministry.” Not “send him now” or “send her now.” “Send them now.” That’s what M Barclay has been working for 12 years to finally hear. Barclay, a transgender person who identifies as neither male nor female and thus uses the pronoun “they,” was commissioned on Sunday as the first non-binary member of the clergy in the United Methodist Church. READ MORE