A film screening and personal testimony highlight faith, translation, and LGBTQIA+ inclusion during the Shepard Symposium’s opening night.
The Shepard Symposium opened Oct. 13 with a powerful film screening and personal testimony, setting the stage for a week of conversations about faith, identity, and language.
At 6 p.m., the opening event was held at St. Paul’s UCC, where Rev. Dr. Mark Lee and community helpers welcomed attendees before the screening of 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture. The symposium, held Oct. 13-17, features daily events that explore how scripture, interpretation, and lived experience interact, especially when it comes to LGBTQIA+ communities and Christian faith.
Rev. Dr. Mark Lee began by showing the audience his very first Bible, given to him as a seventh-grader in his Methodist church. He recalled writing a letter to Youth Ministries challenging the church’s position on homosexuality, a letter that went unanswered, and later speaking out through another outlet that did respond to his letter of concern. Over time, Lee said, his early frustrations led to his founding ministries aimed at creating an area free from hate and eventually to his coming-out and advocacy within Christian circles.
After the introduction, as well as some words from helper Michelle Schamp, the film began. 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a documentary built from personal narratives and historical scholarship, contending that a mistranslation in ancient texts had long-term effects on how Christianity views sexuality. The film presents individual accounts of people wrestling with faith and identity, and highlights how many have felt a “spiritual bent”, a sense that their internal self and their religious teachings were misaligned.
One speaker in the film says, “I carried shame in my prayers for years,” while another reflects, “I learned that scripture could wound as much as it could heal.” These voices underscore the tension between doctrinal teachings and lived experiences.
The film showed how small shifts in translation, changes in a single Greek or Hebrew word, reverberated through centuries of theology and impacted how some churches framed LGBTQIA+ inclusion.
Throughout the evening, it was clear that the film’s themes resonated deeply in the community. Speakers and attendees discussed how religious oppression, internalized guilt, and external hostility affect people daily. Many shared how their spiritual journey includes balancing natural identity with inherited principles.
Speakers and participants noted that hardships manifest in both institutional settings and personal relationships. Some LGBTQIA+ Christians described being excluded from church roles, challenged in worship, or pressured to suppress parts of themselves. Others recounted abusive past theological teachings that blamed orientation for sin or trauma.
Yet stories of resilience also surfaced. Individuals described how they reinterpreted scripture, built affirming faith communities, and supported younger people searching for belonging. The symposium aims to create space for those stories and continue conversations over several days.
Over the next days, the symposium includes workshops, panel discussions, lectures, and worship gatherings. Attendees will explore how marginalized voices reinterpret scripture, advocate for inclusion, and respond to translation history.
As the Shepard Symposium continues, its opening night offered both caution and hope: the power of words, the pain of exclusion, and the possibility of balance. Through stories, scholarship, and community, the event suggests that faith and identity need not be at odds.
By the week’s end, participants will have heard more than lectures; they’ll have heard living people telling truths. The question the symposium leaves us with is not just what faith says but who is allowed to speak it.
