Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Ormewood Park Presbyterian--R.I.P.

Howard, Michael, Mark, Chris, Peter at OPPC in 1994

I have just come from a funeral for my Presbyterian church. I’ve cried less at funerals of dear friends. Every hymn, every scripture, every memory, every familiar and unfamiliar face made me want to weep inconsolably, tugging at the proverbial heart strings. I held back, lest I terrify those around me. Blessed I was to be surrounded by longtime friends who felt much the same.

The sanctuary of Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church was packed with many generations of its membership for the final service, April 3, 2016. The only other times I’ve seen it filled was for its 100th anniversary a few years ago and in 1994, for my then partner’s and my “Ceremony of the Heart.”

A love story always has a beginning, even with a church. When Mark King and I moved to Atlanta in 1993 for his job as executive director of AIDS Survival Project, we began looking for a church home where we could be open and honest about our relationship. We visited several welcoming congregations, but we found ourselves drawn to the small Presbyterian congregation at the corner of Woodland and Delaware. We moved to the neighborhood, Ormewood Park, largely because of the church.

The members were warm and friendly, both young and old, maybe especially the elderly. There was already a handful of gay and lesbian members and leaders of the church. It would be several years before it formally became one of the few More Light churches in the South, at Mark’s urging in a letter to its Session.

The pastor, Peter Denlea, a retired Navy bomber pilot for whom this was a second career, grappled personally with scriptures in every sermon—still a scrapper from his days as an Irish Catholic youth in Boston’s Southie neighborhood. During worship, he would invite us all to wrestle with a biblical text until it blessed us. The congregation was enjoying a renaissance.

Peter eagerly created and celebrated our “Ceremony of the Heart” with “God’s glorious gadfly” and LGBT/AIDS activist Howard Warren on October 30, 1994. My dear friend Michael Morgan served as organist. The congregation turned out in full, and that, with Mark’s family from Shreveport and our friends (many attending an AIDS conference in the city that weekend) filled the sanctuary.

When other Presbyterian pastors got wind of it, they called Peter to account, urging the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta to reprimand him and nullify our blessing, which, as then Central Presbyterian pastor Ted Wardlaw told me at the time, was “like trying to undo the ringing of a bell.” This gave Peter a chance on the floor of presbytery—like his namesake in regard to baptizing Gentiles in Acts 10 & 11—to defend his decision and us by giving a persuasive speech that prompted a resounding ovation and a refusal to press charges.

Today, as he left for his assisted living facility, where he still offers a friendly touch and ear to his neighbors, Peter—as straight as God can make a man—kissed me full on the lips in saying goodbye.

The church went on to be served by several capable pastors, but Peter was a hard act to follow. They continued his welcoming legacy by later attracting transgender members, thanks to one-time parish associate, Erin Swenson.  We were grateful that she led us in a conversation in place of a sermon on the Sunday following 9/11.

Though I liked the congregation, I began to feel that formal worship was not the best way for us to be a spiritual community. Then I was given opportunities to serve others spiritually in a way I could not serve Presbyterians. Thanks to OPPC, I stayed on the rolls as a member even as I served Atlanta’s Midtown Spiritual Community and subsequently, MCC, and now as your progressive Christian blogger!

Perhaps my grief is deepened by feelings of loss of the entire denomination, whose timid and tepid “welcome” of LGBT people is much less than hoped for in my 40+ years of activism within it. I am dissatisfied that it still protects the “conscience” of those who oppose us, those same people who refused to protect the conscience of our supporters. Prejudice and bigotry have no right of conscience in my possibly jaundiced view. (Grey Panthers founder Maggie Kuhn said that the advantage of being a “senior” is that you can say what you really think!)

Though the presbytery plans a “re-branding” of OPPC, which makes me think of branding cattle, Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church will also be a hard act to follow. Its members and leaders and pastors should be proud of its ministry and witness and service.

For me personally, the church not only celebrated that “ceremony of the heart,” but supported me through the brokenness of my heart when my relationship with Mark ended and my mother died within weeks of each other.

Churches are the repositories of memorable life events of all they’ve welcomed. That hallows them, and gives us a taste of the eternal.



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Copyright © 2016 by Chris R. Glaser. Permission granted for non-profit use with attribution of author and blogsite. Other rights reserved.  

19 comments:

  1. Wonderful memories and commentary my friend!

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  2. thanks for this particularly--"Perhaps my grief is deepened by feelings of loss of the entire denomination, whose timid and tepid “welcome” of LGBT people is much less than hoped for in my 40+ years of activism within it. I am dissatisfied that it still protects the “conscience” of those who oppose us, those same people who refused to protect the conscience of our supporters. Prejudice and bigotry have no right of conscience"

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  3. Thanks for your moving blog Chris. Bob and I often think and talk about the little church in Phoenix, Casa de Cristo, where we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And our spiritual father, Fred Pattison, who is now in heaven. Truly it is a form of grief, a deep pain, mixed with an everlasting joy. Pain, because we can't relive those days at that little church. But joy that God's Spirit took us there. Thank you.

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    1. I had heard of Casa de Cristo. You were definitely blessed to be there! Thanks!

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  4. I did not learn of Ormewood Park Presbyterian until after leaving Atlanta in the late 1970's upon graduation from Georgia Tech. What a solace to know that my friend Michael Morgan, organist at Central Presbyterian, was also at Ormewood Park! Without knowing of Ormewood Park, I would attend Druid Hills Presbyterian in the AM on Sundays, coming back to attend the NEW MCC church around the corner, thus keeping my worlds separate, until I got the courage to tear down the walls segregating my experiences of sexuality and spirituality.

    Chris, once again, you make me cry. And, that's a good thing, especially whenever I remember to bring a handkerchief to the office. I appreciate your blogs so very much. Thanks for doing this.

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    1. I'm not sure what OPPC was like back then. I think Peter initiated LGBT welcome when he came there in the 90s because there were a few gay people in the neighborhood. Michael was still at Central when we had our ceremony. I first met him when he hosted me when I first visited Atlanta to meet with PAL, Presbyterians for Alternative Lifestyles, the PCUS version of what became More Light Presbyterians. After becoming Organist Emeritus at Central, he occasionally played for OPPC in recent years. He's still organist at Columbia Seminary. I am touched by your reflections of your days in Atlanta. Thank you for your kind words!

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  5. Thanks for sharing! I'm deeply saddened by the passing of Ormwood Park Presbyterian Church as well. This was my first home and church family. I love and cherish the memories of where I grew up. It was where I learned of love, compassion, acceptance and leadership from all of my church family there. I am blessed to have been a part of the Church community renaissance and then the more light church that was to follow. I have a heavy heart now that it's going to be rebranded, but wish and hope for the best. I wish I could have been able to attend the last service but wasn't able to get back to Georgia. Thank you again for sharing this!

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    1. Good to hear from you, Katie! We miss you in Atlanta!

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  6. Thanks Chris for that beautiful reflection. Sad to say I don't take the time often to read your posts, but I was drawn to the topic and taken in by your sharing and reflections.

    It is safe to say that OPPC like many other churches, has left a mark on those who have claimed it for a home either for a lifetime, a few years or a season. I am grateful the Holy Spirit finds places to stir the flames of faith and to nurture the souls of those who long for connection on so many levels.

    Blessings my friend, Tim

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    1. Thanks, Tim. For some reason(s) this post has prompted an all time record of visits in a first day. It must've touched a deeply and broadly shared experience. Thanks be to God for all houses of worship that touch us, welcome us, and shape us!

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  7. This really touched my heart. Bob and I lost the church which was our first REAL church home. Bob's mom died around that time and he said that losing our church was actually harder. We are still in touch with so many of that church family, but have never recovered that feeling of home in another church.

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    1. Thanks, Kelsey. More than any post I've written, this seems to have touched many people's hearts/experience. More than 1000 have read the post today, not including 600+ subscribers, a record for the first day a post appears. I'm surprised, and pleased, as I debated running it because it was so personal.

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  8. I'm sorry your church had to close. I've witnessed at least two Anglican churches which I've been involved with over many years having to close.Our denomination is declining badly as are many mainline denominations.Even though we've had 13 years of gay marriage being legal in Canada,when will the A.C.C change its marriage canon? The presbyterian Church in Canada has never dealt with the gay issue.

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  9. It would be like the "unringing of a bell" to not be grateful for your lifelong call and ministry - all that has meant, continues to mean, and will in the future. Blessings on OPPC as it transitions to a place that now serves all those who have gone before. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ubi est...still.

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    1. Thanks, Ray, I appreciate your thoughts. I just finished rereading Michael Ford's "Wounded Prophet" about Henri Nouwen, and your words fit the end of his life as well, and how he wrote about the "fruitfulness" of our lives may only be known after our brief lifespans.

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  10. Chris, there is not going to be a "rebranding" of OPPC. That church is closed, having done meaningful ministry for a very long time but no longer reaching the community as a church. There have been inviting and open conversations for the past 4 months about what they need in a church in 2016. The presbytery is listening to those hundreds of voices, as well as the voice of the Holy Spirit, to discern what is next. We are a people of Resurrection and sometimes it takes a death for something new and beautiful to be birthed. That in no way negates the memories and meaningful ministry of the past.

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    1. Penny, I didn't intend to make the presbytery the villain of the piece, so no need to be defensive. There is nothing wrong with re-branding, and that is the common impression I took away from both the congregation and members of the presbytery committee who attended the final service. My understanding is that this was the time for all good things related to OPPC to end. When I preached there a few times in 2014, my sermons were pastorally concerned with the existing congregation coming to terms with this probability. The opportunity to redefine the church's ministry and mission was lost years ago when the inherited estate of one of its members was used, not for programmatic purposes, but to renovate the church for possible sale, at the encouragement of presbytery, according to one of your assigned transitional pastors. The Holy Spirit can be used as a convenient screen, as you know, for doing what we want. But I hope she truly is at work in this process. As it is, I believe OPPC made the right choice to let go.

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  11. Chris, it is a sad thing to lose the ministry of a great church like Ormewood Park Presbyterian. In this time of celebration and loss of that community of faith, I want to drop a note saying I absolutely honor your call to ministry and your service for Christ over these many years and different settings.

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    1. Thanks, Bruce--I greatly appreciate your words!Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

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