ABSTRACT
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are an international charity organisation and network of community activists founded in San Francisco in 1979. They raise money for causes related to sexual health, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community needs, and other local charitable organisations, through a wide variety of events that include their famously riotous 21-and-over Bingo nights. A further aspect of the Sisters' activism is their imitation, and parody, of Roman Catholic nuns. The final aspect of the Sisters that author finds intriguing is the number of them who identify as spiritual and who consider their work with the Sisters as in some way related to that spirituality. The chapter focuses on one, particularly post-secular form of spirituality: beliefs, experiences, and practices that are voluntaristic, individualistic, sometimes experienced in community, and rarely associated with formal religious membership or identification. The political activism of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence comes in many forms.
