Celebrate 2025 Pride with First Church San Diego
06.04.25 | Articles, News
The RIVER (First Church's LGBTQIA+ ministry) invites you to join us as we celebrate Pride in San Diego! This year, the church is focusing on the message: Stop ALL Hate.
Help the church further our message of loving your neighbor and stopping hate by participating in Pride celebrations throughout the county. We'll be at Light Up the Cathedral, a special Pride Shabbat Service and the SD Pride Parade – details are included below. Before we get to the event details, we want to share an important message recognizing safety concerns surrounding this year's celebrations:
As we prepare to march in the 2025 San Diego Pride Parade, we recognize this moment as both joyful and deeply significant. Pride has always been more than a celebration— it is an act of courage, resistance, and hope. It is our church’s witness to the resilience, dignity, and beauty of the LGBTQIA+ community.
We also acknowledge the very real safety concerns many are feeling this year. In response to rising anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and threats nationwide, San Diego Pride is taking extensive measures to protect our community, including increased SDPD presence, added private security, and coordination around possible risks. This care reflects how sacred this gathering is—and how fiercely we must protect one another.
At this moment in history, when our queer siblings are being targeted in legislation, media, and everyday life, our presence matters more than ever. First Church is showing up—not just with rainbow flags and giveaways, but with a deep and visible commitment to love, justice, and healing. We will walk, pray, and stand boldly with our queer siblings in the Pride Parade, carrying a sign and a spirit that calls for an end to ALL hate.
For details on safety at Pride, visit https://sdpride.org/safety-at-san-diego-pride/.
Light Up the Cathedral
Wednesday, July 16 | 7 - 9PM
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral
2728 Sixth Ave, San Diego, CA, 92103
Your pastors invite you to join Dean Penny Bridges, LGBTQIA+ Faith Leaders and Allied Faith Leaders for an Interfaith Pride Celebration at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral. After the service, the Cathedral will be lit in rainbow colors.
Pride Shabbat Service
Friday, July 18 | 6:15PM
Featured Speaker: Nicole Murray Ramirez
RSVP REQUIRED! Be sure to register with Beth Israel if you would like to attend.
Congregation Beth Israel
9001 Towne Center Drive, San Diego, CA, 92122
Our friends at Beth Israel won’t be participating in this year’s Pride Festival due to safety concerns brought on by the headliner Kehlani’s repeated amplification of violent antisemitic rhetoric. In Rabbi Jason’s words, “When antisemitic rhetoric is normalized and given a platform, it can all too easily lead to violence against Jews such as in the recent domestic terror attacks in Boulder, CO, and Washington, D.C., both carried out by assailants who echoed similar hateful rhetoric as Kehlani.”
Instead, Rabbi Jason and Congregation Beth Israel is offering the queer community alternative celebration and you are invited. As Rabbi Jason says, “We would love for our wonderful faith partners at FUMC to join in this joyful service.”
San Diego Pride Parade
Saturday, July 19 | See RSVP page for details! | Donate
If you have never been to a Pride Parade, it’s an experience you won’t soon forget. It’s a day of celebration. A day of unity. A day of joy. A day of love. A day where just for a few hours you can see the possibilities of what the world could really be. A day to celebrate that God's love is indeed for all of us.
We'll meet at 10:30 AM at our assigned parade starting spot for pictures and fellowship. The "start moving time" estimate is 11:10 AM. The route is flat and approximately 1.5 miles. We'll be handing out giveaway items, giving high fives, and having fun along the way!
We are awaiting our assigned staging spot and will contact everyone with additional details once they are available. RSVP in advance so we can share more details.
