Messiah Queered organizers pleased with event

Close to 200 people made their way past a handful of protestors quietly marching in front of Grace Mennonite Church and went through a volunteer security team to attend Messiah Queered, the first publicly advertised event for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Steinbach since Pride was cancelled due to threats.

Organizer Trevor Kirczenow said they had an incredible amount of support for the event.

Two concerts were held with the first at St Mark’s Lutheran Church in Winnipeg, which attracted about 150 attendees.

The four co-presenters included St Mark’s, Steinbach Neighbours for Community, Manitoba Mobile Music and Steinbach United Church.

Kirczenow spoke to the crowd in Steinbach, highlighting special guests including Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk, NDP MLA and deputy premier Uzoma Asagwara and Manitoba Liberal Party president Terry Hayward.

He thanked those in attendance and said this event was important.

“It means so much to us to be together here for this,” he said.

Grace Mennonite Church pastor Kyle Penner welcomed guests to the church.

“Represented here today is the full spectrum of the human experience,” he said. “We have all shown up here with our full authentic selves.”

He acknowledged that for some entering a religious space may be challenging depending on past church experiences.

“I know that even coming here today may have been hard for some of you,” he said, before adding that he hoped visitors could feel comfort in this space.

Soloists Kris Catahol, Geneva Halverson, Aaron Hutton and Stephen Haiku-Pena shared the stage with members of the orchestra and chorus throughout the night, as Ken MacDonald conducted.

Handel’s Messiah has a long history.

It was composed by George Frideric Handel in a mere 24 days in 1741, conveying the message of Jesus’ mission with thematically arranged sets of text.

The three parts take the audience through the prophecy and birth of Jesus, the depth of his suffering and ultimate triumph and testaments to faith and assurances of eternal life.

Handel faced fierce criticism from church officials who thought the life of Christ should not be presented in a public theatre.

For the first few years, Handel was forced to bill the work as A New Sacred Oratorio instead of Messiah.