Support All Faiths

I'm writing this at the request of SMID - who is sadly mourning an attack on her church because "they support liberals and gays".

Well, come on over because I can't recall a time when my Presbyterian home didn't open its doors wide open to people of all faiths, persuasions, colors, addictions, and convictions.

There were the usual summer services where we swapped houses with the Episcopalians down the street - believe me, we all may be Protestant but those JV Catholics lovely neighbors always had me confused. Nevermind, I finally caught on to the Book of Common Prayer... by late August. Today, I attend a local Episcopalian church because the reverend is a woman (love the gender neutral text!) and the congregation is predominantly gay.

The other thing I grew up with in my Presbyterian home were the presence of gay people. Let me rephrase that, the tolerance, abundance, and love of gay people. When the leadership of the church (not our local house but the big people in some capital place or somesuch) wanted to exclude gays from the clergy, all of our ushers wore pink triangles during services. Every single one. Imagine getting a glimpse of that when they passed the plate around.

Finally, our church preached against hate, nuclear weapons, and Ronald Reagan. Against poverty, discrimination, and well, Ronald Reagan. These were my Sunday stories. Couldn't tell you what the proverb or reading was. But I surely understood the lesson.