About us
Capital UMC Pride a connectional group of UM congregations and faith communities from the metropolitan Washington DC area. The primary mission of our group is to bring the message of inclusion and welcome to the local LGBTQIA+ community during the Capital Pride Parade.
We consist of members and affiliates of congregations from the Virginia and Baltimore-Washington Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church and a variety of UMC Reconciling groups such as Virginia Reconciling United Methodists, Baltimore-Washington Area Reconciling Methodists, The Queer Clergy Caucus, and other
affirming UMC groups.
The group grew out of conversations in 2008 and 2009 among participants from separate local UMC congregations who each paid for and executed separate booths at the Capital Pride Festival on the Sunday of Pride weekend. The opportunity to collaborate and leverage resources was obvious, the conversations began, and over the subsequent years the group evolved.
In 2015 the group coalesced and added more Reconciling United Methodist groups as conversations about LGBTQ inclusion in the UMC intensified prior to General Conference 2016. Since our first parade participation in 2010, our group has earned the distinction of the single most consistent faith-based contingent in the Capital Pride Parade.
This 2023 organizing committee consists of Clergy, Lay members, Straight Allies, and members of the LGBTQIA+ Community. Committee participants include members and affiliates of the following groups and congregations:
Capitol Hill UMC
Christ Crossman UMC, Falls Church
Community of Faith UMC Herndon
Dumbarton UMC
Faith UMC Rockville
Foundry UMC
Mount Vernon Place UMC
National UMC
North Bethesda UMC
Silver Spring UMC
St Paul’s UMC Kensington
St. Matthew’s UMC Reconciling Community
The Kingstowne Communion VA
Trinity UMC Alexandria
Walker Chapel Arlington