Homecoming + Queer Symposium 2025: A Celebration of Joy, Justice, and Community
Join us Monday, April 28 – Wednesday, April 30, 2025, for a bold and sacred convergence at LSTC: Homecoming and the Queer Intersectionality and the Public Church Symposium will come together for three days of learning, gathering, and celebration.
This year’s Queer Symposium explores the theme “Queer Joy as Resistance”—an invitation to imagine joy not only as celebration, but as a powerful force for justice, transformation, and survival. Together, students, alumni, theologians, faith leaders, and activists will gather to explore how joy sustains resistance, deepens community, and celebrates the queerness of the Imago Dei.
Held in conjunction with LSTC Homecoming, this special event offers a unique opportunity for reunion and renewal. Alumni from the classes of 1975, 1985, 2000, and 2015 will gather in person and virtually for shared meals, storytelling, workshops, and worship. All registered Homecoming attendees receive full access to the Symposium.
From alumni panels and student art, to workshops on queer liturgy, congregational transformation, and trans joy in the church—this year’s programming is grounded in collective liberation, theological rigor, and deep care for our community.
Featured plenaries and workshops include:
- Still We Rise: Queer Joy as Resistance in an Age of Erasure
- Trans Joy and the Role of the Church
- Developing Resistance: Queer Intersectional Activism
- Alumni Panel: Queer and Lutheran – Stories of Resistance
“Queer joy resists the notion that queer lives are defined only by trauma,” says Dr. Karri Alldredge, founder of the Symposium. “It is a political statement and a spiritual force. We are delighted to create space for this joy to be celebrated and shared.”
Whether you’re an alum returning to reconnect, a student eager to lead, or a community member seeking a faithful space for transformative dialogue, this gathering is for you. At its heart, this gathering is more than a series of events—it is an embodied expression of LSTC’s public witness. It is a call to deepen relationships, challenge unjust systems, and imagine what church and community can look like when rooted in radical welcome. The act of showing up—whether to reunite with classmates, learn from queer theologians, or worship in community—is itself a sacred offering. In this space, joy is not a detour from justice, but its very pulse. We hope you’ll join us at the intersection of memory and movement, where the church dares to be transformed by love. You can find out more information about the Queer Symposium here and Homecoming here.