Ms. Penny Cost Kiss
Isaac Simmons as Ms. Penny Cost. (Courtesy Photo)
Just before Easter the congregation I lead, Hope Church, celebrated not only the candidacy (a step toward ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church) of Isaac Simmons, but also Greta Long and Luke DeLong -- all incredible leaders/pastors!! In campus ministry and church planting, you watch many of your best leaders leave for all the right reasons. We thought that was the end of the story.
Then a post was made about Isaac by the Institute for Religion and Democracy, pointing toward his drag persona Ms. Penny Cost. Isaac's participation in this art form was never meant to be a secret. He's even said it would have likely remained an extra curricular during his time as a college student. Isaac has studied and lived the spirituality of drag, and uses it as an opportunity to have deeply theological and spiritual conversations with others performing in drag, and even the audience at his shows. We can't help wonder how those critiquing Isaac are showing Christ's love with those outside the traditional four walls of their churches.
The article published by the IRD led to questions within the United Methodist Church about whether it was appropriate to certify Isaac as a candidate. We learned there was much confusion about what drag is, and whether drag itself violates paragraph 304.3 in the Book of Discipline (a statement we are actively working to change so that 100% of all of our amazing people who are LGBTQiA can answer a call to ministry, but currently states that a "self avowed practicing homosexual" cannot be certified as a candidate). And the answer to whether drag proves this for Isaac is "no", participating in the art of drag does not prove someone is a "practicing homosexual" (note: that language is from the Book of Discipline, not language I or we would use in any other setting).
To those in the church arguing this, I would remind that every cishet male pastor who has donned a dress for a laugh at a church camp follies or spiritual retreat talent night, Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, and Mulan were all forms of drag, more on the comedic side than the performance side, but still drag. There is not any confusion about whether Robin Williams was a "practicing homosexual" when his character was his children's nanny as Mrs. Doubtfire. Nor should there be any confusion when Isaac performs as Ms. Penny Cost. This is not to say that I, or Hope Church, does not celebrate every person who identifies as LGBTQiA because we do!! It is to say that one's performance in drag is not a legal reason to block someone from candidacy based on paragraph 304.3.
On a number of conservative Christian websites, blogs, and podcasts, there has also been discussion about and confusion as to whether Ms. Penny Cost is appropriate in Christian worship. Well...what I can tell you is that since we included her, our congregation has connected with hundreds of unchurched people around the country who have learned that they also can receive God's unconditional love. And let me tell you, it's been really fun to add a number of drag artists to our congregation as active participants in in worship!
Perhaps your congregation is not called to connect with drag artists, fine. Who are you called to serve, and how are you actively doing it?
Life got strange for Isaac Simmons, Cara McMorris, and me when the conversation about Ms. Penny Cost moved past the in-fighting of the UMC, and to others in the conservative blogsphere telling his story/condemning Isaac and Hope Church simply as a fundraiser. The more clicks, the more money. Gross.
What most people don't know is that Isaac was not raised in a home that practiced the Christian faith and he came to Christ in late high school. He is passionate about his faith, he prays more than anyone else I know, and lives his life every single day in service to others. During most of the time this was happening, he was serving Hope's Remote Learning Center: tutoring, feeding, and caring for students who were left home alone to handle their own educations and were failing. He helped them succeed. Last week, he removed a fiberglass ceiling from our sanctuary. Every week he stitches together our online worship services.
But more than anything Isaac has "done," I want people to know he is a human. He is a young adult. He is a college student. United Methodists, he is one of OUR young adults. The thousands and thousands and thousands of comments that call him the "spawn of Satan" and those that have called for his, and my, death, have caused harm.
I did not plan to say anything, but this week Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales Phil Vischer decided to make fun of Isaac and Hope Church? Why? To what end? The "we're so confused" questions they asked on the Holy Post podcast could have been easily answered by either reading anything Isaac has posted, or reaching out to us.
I wanted to say many things, but in typical Isaac form, what he wrote is more grace-filled, loving, and kind. This is his comment in response to the Veggie Tales podcast:
Good afternoon,
My name is Isaac Simmons, also known as Ms. Penny Cost.
Yesterday, a colleague in ministry forwarded me a link to your podcast and stated that you and your guests were discussing my Drag and my Candidacy. I was excited to hear this, as I have respect for your historical openness to grace filled ministries of justice. Unfortunately, after listening I became disheartened because it seemed like, the lively and jovial discussion was not out of a place of spirt filled curiosity, but out of a place of jeer towards LGBTQIA+ people... and towards me... a 23-year-old college student who is working towards spreading the Gospel of Christ to and alongside folks who have been told they are unreachable.
I must believe that this was not your intention. I must believe that you meant to raise up my story to highlight this new way of ministry. I must believe that you posed these good questions that many people have in the back of their minds, out of a place of goodness and grace. However, this was not how it were received.
Because you were not posing the questions to someone who is in or adjacent to the LGBTQIA+ community, re-reporting news on a secondhand account, it only undermined the integrity of my story, my ministry, and the life/experience of Queer people who were listening.
What I say next, you have no reason of knowing, but I want to share it with you... because of the unintentionally lackadaisical coverage of my ministry by leading faith leaders like yourself, I have received threats against my life, calls for my pastors to be "dragged from the pulpit" and killed, and I am at times fearful of being alone in my own church.
Voices are powerful and stories change lives. I pray that the estranged and desensitized coverage does not lead to the harm of my people or myself.
I am 23 years old, called by God and by the Holy Spirit to serve the Church and all of humanity. The Art of Drag is but one pathway that I walk to live into my inner most calling.
I would be more than happy to clarify and deepen the conversation around queerness, drag, and spirituality by talking with you and your people. We are all on a continuum of Education and Growth. My calling as a minister and as a drag queen, is to educate, empower, and grow people's understanding of life, the Divine, and personal faith through laughter and goodwill.
With Peace and Hope,
Isaac R. Simmons
Ms. Penny Cost
Thee Rev. Dr. Jennie Edwards Bertrand serves as Lead Pastor Hope United Methodist Church, Bloomington, Ill. This article is republished with the author's permission from a Facebook post.