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# James Talarico's Church Is A Sanctuary For 'Woke 1' Craziness
- URL: https://thecrimsonhub.com/james-talaricos-church-is-a-sanctuary-for-woke-1-craziness/
- Published: 2026-08-28T11:01:19.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-28T14:11:05.000Z
- Description: Talarico is trying to run as a moderate, but his past shows he is anything but one
- Author: Crimson Staff

James Talarico wants Texas to believe he's a moderate. A humble seminarian, faith over ideology, above the usual Democratic culture-war garbage.

His own church torches that act in about four clicks.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cf/ac/cfac1fd0-23e3-490f-a17a-a11b795ef5b5/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-28-at-10.07.24---AM.png)

A cross draped with the pride flag

Talarico has gone to [St. Andrew's Presbyterian](https://www.chron.com/culture/article/james-talarico-transgender-22073763.php?ref=thecrimsonhub.com) in North Austin since he was 2 years old, and he's preached there himself while at seminary. St. Andrew's calls itself "[Presbyterian & Progressive](https://www.staopen.org/?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)," which is putting it mildly. Pull up the homepage and there's no scripture, no sin, no salvation, nothing that would've made sense to a Presbyterian fifty years ago. Just a pledge to "[affirm the full participation of all ages, sex and gender identities, races, color, and ethnicities in all our endeavors](https://www.staopen.org/?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)," like an HR seminar broke into the sanctuary and started redecorating.

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Keep scrolling. It gets worse. St. Andrew's is a "[More Light](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)" congregation, the PC(USA) label for churches that fully affirm and ordain LGBTQ clergy, and the church says outright it exists to help congregations "[lead LGBTQIA+ service and advocacy](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)." It's partnered with [Out Youth Austin](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com), an outfit built around "youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities." So when [Talarico told his own congregation in 2022](https://www.chron.com/culture/article/james-talarico-transgender-22073763.php?ref=thecrimsonhub.com) that "our trans community needs abortion care, too," nobody there should've blinked. He was quoting the mission statement.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cf/ac/cfac1fd0-23e3-490f-a17a-a11b795ef5b5/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-28-at-10.07.32---AM.png)

St. Andrew's also holds a formal designation as a "[Reproductive Freedom Congregation](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)," a badge abortion-rights groups hand out to churches that fall in line. It's stapled right next to the LGBTQ material, same page, same self-satisfied tone, like unrestricted abortion access is just another item on the parish activity calendar.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cf/ac/cfac1fd0-23e3-490f-a17a-a11b795ef5b5/content/images/2026/08/Gemini_Generated_Image_8fsvu8fsvu8fsvu8.jpeg)

AI Altered Image

Then it goes full State Department. St. Andrew's says it "[support\[s\] peace and human rights for the Palestinian people](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)," partners with the [US Campaign for Palestinian Rights](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com), a group whose stated mission is "to end U.S. complicity in Israel's massive violence against the Palestinian people," and has hosted an actual [prayer vigil for an "injured Palestinian who was attacked."](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com) On immigration, the church brags about "[offering sanctuary to immigrants in need of refuge](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com)" and runs alongside border-activism groups pushing what they call "transnational solidarity." A Presbyterian church in Austin, Texas, running Middle East foreign policy and open-borders talking points through the pulpit like it's a think tank with a collection plate.

Then they built a monument to all of it. St. Andrew's has an outdoor walking trail called the [Field of Hope](https://www.staopen.org/social-justice?ref=thecrimsonhub.com), modeled on the AIDS-era original from the 1990s, meant to "lift up people and movements working for dignity, safety, and belonging." A prayer trail for causes, landscaped right onto church property, because apparently a sermon wasn't enough real estate for the agenda.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cf/ac/cfac1fd0-23e3-490f-a17a-a11b795ef5b5/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-28-at-10.09.23---AM.png)

Talarico isn't hiding from any of this. He's [talked proudly about marching against the Iraq War](https://www.chron.com/culture/article/james-talarico-transgender-22073763.php?ref=thecrimsonhub.com) with a St. Andrew's group as a middle schooler. This church raised him, and he'll tell you himself he's grateful for it.

[Read satirical goodness at The Crimson Comedy Club](https://thecrimsonhub.com/tag/crimson-comedy-club/)

Which is exactly the point. Talarico is touring Texas selling voters a gentle, faith-driven moderate who floats above the fray. His actual church is a woke-left instruction manual with a cross bolted to the front of the building, checkboxes and all. Texans can decide for themselves whether "moderate" is the word for a man formed by that.