What is life like for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender clergy? This session had a panel of four ministers sharing their experiences.
Moderator
Rev. Jane Dwinell, Minister, First Universalist Parish of Derby Line, VT
Panelists
Rev. Scott Prinster, Minister, UU
Community Church of Southwest Michigan
Rev. William Feinberg, UU Society of South
Suffolk, Bay Shore, NY
Rev. Sean Parker-Dennison, Interim Minister, First
UU Church of Stockton, CA
Rev. Carole Yorke, Minister, Spirit
of Life UUs , Odessa, FL
Rev. Prinster came to his church through the UU extension congregation
program. He was formerly an engineer before attending Starr King School for
the Ministry. Rev. Prinster was out where he lived in Alabama and found it an
easy transition to Starr King in California where a significant portion of the
student body identifies themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. Rev. Prinster
found that his congregation thought they had done all the work they needed to
do by calling a gay minister, but he feels there is still more work to do for
members of the congregation to have a better sensitivity to G/L/B/T issues.
Rev. Prinster debunked the myth that if you have a gay minister, your church
will be gay. He said now there are 5 lesbians and 2 gay men; however, for the
first 2 ½ of his three years in his congregation, he was the only gay man in
the church.
Rev. Feinberg came to his congregation three years ago at a time when
there were only 16 members. The congregation has grown to 45 members in the
past three years. The focus of his ministry is healing, which calls him to bring
his whole self to work and be in integrity with the people he serves. This means
that he has been out with his congregation, the hospice colleagues with who
he works part-time, and the interfaith community of ministers. It has been a
struggle, but Rev. Feinberg is an optimist and pointed to positive developments
in the relationships within his congregation and the community. For example,
one of the female members of his congregation has two sons very active in the
Boy Scouts. Rev. Feinberg met with the local council and had a positive meeting.
Since then, the local troop built a memorial garden at the site of their church.
Rev. Feinberg feels that bridges are being built and it is important to, "Be
careful who you demonize."
Rev. Dennison is completing a two-year interim ministry in Stockton,
CA. He is in the process of looking for a permanent settlement and has found
it to be a challenge. "A permanent settlement is important to me because I want
to someday marry the babies that I bless." Rev. Dennison came out as transgender
during seminary at Starr King School for the Ministry. He currently has a male
partner, two children, and two cats. There have been good relationships with
his congregation. Once an issue did arise, there was a communication and the
issue was resolved within days. Though Rev. Dennison has encountered transphobia
in the UU community, he has also had positive experiences. For example, some
people in the congregation he currently serves have come to see that he is uniquely
positioned to understand the issues, and concerns of both men and women.
Rev. Yorke has a five-year appointment through the extension congregation
program. She has also been at her congregation for about 3 years. She provided
additional proof that a gay minister does not mean a gay church. Rev. Yorke
found it a challenge to move from her hometown in NJ to Florida, leaving the
family and friends and community supports is difficult, though she has a partner,
they have not found a sense of community that they had in NJ. For this reason,
Rev. Yorke has been less out than in the past, which she find ironic since she
is a long time active member of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
She heard that when staff at the UUA told the congregation that it was likely that they would get a gay or lesbian minister, "they thought that was cool." In fact, soon after her arrival, members approached her to get started with the Welcoming Congregation program. She actually resisted because she did not want to have the appearance of an agenda.
Rev. Dwinell moderated questions from the audience of approximately 50 people. One of those and related questions was about the trend of congregations getting nervous when the proportion of G/L/B/T members gets high. The ministers acknowledged that trend. However, further discussion by Rev. Feinberg spoke about the issue as change rather than sexual orientations. "UUs like their congregations. It is where they feel comfortable, supported and heard. They do not want that to change. Any disproportionate representation of any group may appear to threaten that for some."
Reported for the Web by Jessie Washington; formatted for the web by Kasey Melski.
General Assembly 2001 · Program Grid
