Drawing on years of research, teaching, and speaking on topics at the intersection of music, Queer history, and activism, Reverend Jim Mitulski and musicologist Thomas Kurtz will present a 60-minute lecture and Q&A discussion exploring how the relationship between music and spirituality literally and figuratively served as a voice for social change among Queer communities that faced systemic exclusion during the dark years of the AIDS crisis.

Dr. Kurtz will begin by investigating how modes of musical expression including sound, lyrics, and performance practice are inextricably linked to understanding history as activism among Queer communities. Following this portion, Rev. Mitulski will speak on his experience as the Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church San Francisco between 1986-2000 while focusing on the musical influences during his tenure.

The latter half of this presentation will highlight three church musicians who will perform excerpts and describe the impact of music-making during the height of the AIDS epidemic, with time for audience questions.

The lecture will take place at Founders Metropolitan Community Church on Sunday, October 27, 2024, from 3-4:30 p.m.

This program is suitable for all ages.

Participants

Dr. Thomas Kurtz’s research investigates how music and performance functioned as a catalyst for social justice during prominent social movements, with a particular focus among the queer community in the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s held teaching positions at San Antonio College, and the University of Texas at Austin, and he currently teaches within the Performing Arts & Social Justice department at the University of San Francisco, as well as at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As an interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Kurtz’s work as an educator, curator, and researcher thrives at the intersection of popular music, social change, cultural-consciousness, and broader cultural/societal movements. Expanding from faculty instruction in higher education to community workshops, he aims to continue this work with accessibility at the forefront.

Rev. Dr. Jim Mitulski is pastor of Congregational Church of the Peninsula in Belmont, CA, and a resident of Oakland, CA. He has been a pastor in both the Metropolitan Community Churches (the historically queer/LGBTQ Church) and the United Church of Christ for over 40 years. He is a founding board member of both the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, and the Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion at Pacific School of Religion, and has helped gather the MCC archives there. He is a former program coordinator at the Hormel LGBT Collection at the San Francisco Public Library. He edited the MCC Hymnal (1989), an inclusive language resource used by grass roots queer religious communities around the world. His work has been profiled by historian Lynne Gerber.

This program is organized by Reverend Jim Mitulski and Thomas Kurtz as part of Circa: Queer Histories Festival 2024, presented by One Institute.

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  Founders MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) Los Angeles is a prophetic, liberating and progressive Christian community of faith that honors, values and welcomes all people. We are rooted in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, and Intersex communities, and are welcoming to our Heterosexual brothers and sisters as well! You will hear a relevant, and scripture-informed message that embodies and celebrates everyone’s spirituality and sexuality. We challenge each other to make our lives count, as we invite everyone to be transformed in mind, body and spirit. From a place of trust, wholeness and holiness, we reach out as the hands, feet, and heart of Christ through acts of justice and compassion to make a difference in our world.