July 19, 1971, New York Times, Religious Order Founded Here By One-Year-Old Gay Church, by Laurie Johnston,
March 6, 1972, L.A. Times - The Tuscaloosa News, page 11, Out Of Closets Into Streets Serious Slogan To Gay Libbers, by Dave Smith,
April 22, 1972, St. Petersburg Times, Ministers Shun Leader Of Homosexual Church, by Robert Fraser, Times Staff,
April 1, 1973, The Washington Post - Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 3E, Church Resists Liberating Homosexuals, by William R. Mackaye,
June 26, 1973, UPI - Eugene Register-Guard, page 5-A, Wall Hiding Windows Blamed For Many Deaths In Flash Fire,
June 26, 1973, AP - Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 4A, Arson Suspected In Bar Fire,
July 16, 1973, New York Times, Television; Morning Afternoon Cable TV Evening,
February 17, 1975, The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, VA] page 4, Council Could Be In For Unusual Session, by Lester Kinsolving,
July 30, 1975, Florence Times Daily [AL] page 19, Gay Church Fills Need In Community,
Many homosexuals who go to their minister, priest or rabbi to talk about their situations usually are met with hysteria," said the Rev. Troy Perry, of Los Angeles, ...
December 25, 1975, The Tuscaloosa News, page 15B, Church For Homosexuals Continues To Grow In LA,
January 19, 1980, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 9, Church Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary,
January 29, 1980, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 3, Homosexual Minister Attributes Victories To Political Know-How, by Bohdan Hodiak, Post-Gazette Staff Writer,
July 26, 1981, New York Times, Church For Homosexuals Asks To Join Council, by Charles Austin,
August 16, 1981, New York Times, Church Council Likely To Reject An Applicant, by Charles Austin,
May 13, 1983, New York Times, Church Council Sees Paradox In Unity, by Charles Austin,
October 20, 1983, AP - Observer-Reporter [Washington, PA] page A-3, Bishops Vow To Secede If Gays Accepted,
October 20, 1983, AP - New York Times, Greek Orthodox Chief Warns Church Unit on Homosexuals,
November 20, 1983, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 1A, Gay love's not easy in a land of straights, by Terry Head, [Continued page 24A]
December 25, 1984, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 2C, Homosexual Church Leader Comes Home, by Terry Head,
January 26, 1985, Gainesville Sun, page B1, The Community Church: .This Congregation Wishes It Could Worship Elsewhere, by Harriet Ludwig, Sun Staff,
June 13, 1986, AP - The Daily Reporter [Spencer, IA] page 6A, Christian Church Ministering To Homosexuals Is Growing, by Joseph Garcia,
June 13, 1986, AP - The Nashua Telegraph, page 14, Christian Denomination Ministering To Gays Has Rapid Membership Growth, by Joseph Garcia,
June 21, 1986, AP - Lawrence Journal-World, page 8, Membership In Gay Churches Growing Rapidly, by Joseph Garcia,
July 20, 1987, The Miami News, page 9A, AIDS To Dominate Gay Churches' Convention,
May 21, 1988, The Toledo Blade, page 2, Christian Group Preaches Tolerance Of Gays, Lesbians, by Mark Zaborney, Blade Staff Writer,
July 27, 1991, New York Times, Religious Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
August 31, 1991, AP - Kentucky New Era, page 6-B, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality, by George W. Cornell, AP Religion Writer,
September 12, 1991, AP - Ludington Daily News, page 7, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality .Other Churches Fret About It,
January 25, 1992, Herald-Journal [Spartanburg] page B7, Church ministering to gays celebrates anniversary; Metropolitan Community Church is 10 years old, by Ginger Lundy, Staff Writer,
April 11, 1992, The Toledo Blade, page 8, God loves us all, even homosexuals, gay minister says, by Judy Tarjanyi, Blade Religion Editor,
January 30, 1993, New York Times, Religion Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
June 5, 1993, N.Y. Times News Service - The Free Lance-Star, Gay Chaplains Likely To Speak Out, by Ari L. Goldman,
November 13, 1994, AP - The Tuscaloosa News, page 12B, Growing Homosexual Church Is Meeting This Weekend In N.C.,
January 22, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page B1, Church Founder To Speak Tonight,
January 23, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 1B, Church Founder: God Doesn't Discriminate, by Stephen G. Reed, Staff Writer,
June 5, 1997, AP - Gadsden Times, Minister Threatens Mass Gay Marriages At Capitol If State Imposes Ban,
April 30, 2000, New York Times, Gay Marchers Will Flex Political Muscle in Capital, by Elaine Sciolino,
May 2, 2000, New York Times, Editorial Notebook; Gay, Middle-Aged and Still Militant, by Dudley Clendinen,
May 16, 2003, New York Times, National Briefing | New England: Massachusetts: Honor For Gay Church Founder, by Katie Zezima
October 2, 2003, AP - The Nevada Daily Mail, page 7, Landmark Gay Church Beginning To Win Acceptance After 35 Years, by Nada El Sawy,
February 13, 2004, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 3B, Local Gay Couples Join National Protest, Request Marriage Papers, by Earle Kimel,
August 16, 2004, Boca Raton News [FL] page 3, Boynton Beach Church Ministers To Local Gay Community, by Paige Stein,
June 25, 2007, New York Times, Pride On the Sunny Side,
September 18, 2010, New York Times, Haunted Man of the Cloth and Pioneer of Gay Rights, by Mark Oppenheimer,
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July 19, 1971, New York Times, Religious Order Founded Here By One-Year-Old Gay Church, by Laurie Johnston,
Rev. Troy Perry, pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles, which he described as "the first gay church in the United States." The ceremony ...
View original in TimesMachine
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March 6, 1972, L.A. Times - The Tuscaloosa News, page 11, Out Of Closets Into Streets Serious Slogan To Gay Libbers, by Dave Smith,
They are the Rev. Troy Perry, pastor of the Homophile Metropolitan Community Church; Clifford Lettieri, president of the Homophile Effort for Legal Protection; ...
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April 22, 1972, St. Petersburg Times, Ministers Shun Leader Of Homosexual Church, by Robert Fraser, Times Staff,
TAMPA — The Metropolitan Community Church, a modest church by most measures, invited IS ministers and priests to join Rev. Troy Perry for breakfast last ...
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April 1, 1973, The Washington Post - Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 3E, Church Resists Liberating Homosexuals, by William R. Mackaye,
The Metropolitan Community Churches, started by the Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, are in fact now a full-fledged national denomination. A scholarly defense ...
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June 26, 1973, UPI - Eugene Register-Guard, page 5-A, Wall Hiding Windows Blamed For Many Deaths In Flash Fire,
A service for the 10 was held Monday night in St George's Episcopal Church. The Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, founder of the churches, said in a sermon the ...
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June 26, 1973, AP - Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 4A, Arson Suspected In Bar Fire,
And the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches, asked mourners at a Monday night memorial service to pray for the arsonists.
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July 16, 1973, New York Times, Television; Morning Afternoon Cable TV Evening,
4:30 p.m. (2) Mike Douglas Show: David Steinberg, co-host: guests include The Four Tops, Professor Irwin Corey, Connie Francis, Roger Moore, The Rev. Troy Perry
The Rev. Troy Perry
View original in TimesMachine
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February 17, 1975, The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, VA] page 4, Council Could Be In For Unusual Session, by Lester Kinsolving,
The Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles is National Moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches. As the author of Lord is My Shepherd And He Knows I'm ...
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July 30, 1975, Florence Times Daily [AL] page 19, Gay Church Fills Need In Community,
Many homosexuals who go to their minister, priest or rabbi to talk about their situations usually are met with hysteria," said the Rev. Troy Perry, of Los Angeles, ...
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December 25, 1975, The Tuscaloosa News, page 15B, Church For Homosexuals Continues To Grow In LA,
Started by the Rev. Troy Perry, the church only received its credentials as a bona fide denomination last May, after a long court struggle A three-judge federal ...
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January 19, 1980, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 9, Church Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary,
27 with the Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles preaching. Perry started the first homosexual church in Los Angeles 10 years ago which since has grown to 20,000 ...
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January 29, 1980, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, page 3, Homosexual Minister Attributes Victories To Political Know-How, by Bohdan Hodiak, Post-Gazette Staff Writer,
The Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the. 12 years ago. is in Pitts burgh tits week for the fifth anniversary of the Metropolitan Community Church of Pittsburgh.
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July 26, 1981, New York Times, Church For Homosexuals Asks To Join Council, by Charles Austin,
A church organized 13 years ago to accept practicing homosexuals has grown to more than 170 congregations in the United States and overseas, and is now applying for membership in the National Council of Churches.
The Rev. Karen Ziegler, pastor of the 90-member Manhattan congregation of the group, the Metropolitan Community Church, says many churches in her denomination feel isolated from the mainstream of Christianity and want to establish contacts with other believers.
The church began in 1968 when the Rev. Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister, formed a congregation for Christians who were openly homosexual or supported homosexuality. Mr. Perry is now moderator of the board of elders of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, which claims about 26,000 members and has headquarters in Los Angeles.
Several hundred delegates and about 500 visitors are expected at the denomination's general conference in Houston from Aug. 3-9.
Declared Doctrines
The pastor of the Manhattan church is a member of the denomination's ecumenical affairs committee and has been on the National Council of Churches' commission on women in the ministry. Besides applying for membership in the National Council of Churches, the nation's largest ecumenical organization, the Metropolitan Community Churches are discussing whether to join the World Council of Churches, acording to Adam Debaugh, who directs the church's department of ecumenical relations in Washington.
The declared doctrines of the church would seem to make it eligible for membership in most ecumenical organizations. In its constitution, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches makes no specific reference to homosexuality; the matrimonial rite of the church is described as "the spiritual joining of two persons in a manner fitting and proper by a duly authorized minister of the church."
The church's constitution spells out a somewhat conservative Protestant doctrine, stressing the authority of the Scriptures and the historic creeds of Christianity. It defines a trinitarian view of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and prescribes baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments of the church.
Easing of Views Noted
Although homosexuality is under discussion in some denominations and some hostile views of homosexuality have eased in recent years, few churches openly support practicing homosexuals who refuse to try to change their sexual orientation. Most churches refuse to ordain a professed, practicing homosexual into the ministry.
"We had been told that the sacraments of the church were not for us," said the Manhattan minister. The fact that the church finds homosexuality an acceptable expression of Christian love could prove controversial in ecumenical circles, but most interchurch organizations, such as the National Council of Churches, have not insisted that members agree on all ethical issues.
The New York church was founded in 1972, and worships at Duane United Methodist Church, at 201 West 13th Street. Its offices are across the street at the former Food & Maritime Trades High School.
Not all members or clergymen in the denomination are homosexual. But for those who are, the church fulfills a need. "To suddenly be in a church where lesbians and gay men are accepted is an overwhelming experience," said Miss Ziegler. "You're surprised to find those others because you thought you were the only gay Christian in the world."
Miss Ziegler, a former Presbyterian, is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York and has been pastor of the church for three years. As an avowed lesbian, it would have been difficult for her to be ordained in any other denomination, and she said she had never considered being ordained without acknowledging her homosexuality.
Several years ago the congregation was received without debate into the Council of Churches of the City of New York, and its parishes are members of similar organizations in other cities.
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August 16, 1981, New York Times, Church Council Likely To Reject An Applicant, by Charles Austin,
Top staff members at the National Council of Churches, the nation's largest ecumenical organization, say they expect the council to reject a membership application by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a denomination that endorses homosexuality.
''Considering the historical position and doctrinal practices of the communions that compose the National Council of Churches of Christ,'' said the Rev. Arleon Kelley, assistant general secretary of the council, ''it appears to me extremely doubtful that 21 of the necessary members would vote for the inclusion'' of Metropolitan Community Churches.
The denomination decided to apply for membership earlier this year and reaffirmed that decision during a conference in Houston this week. A spokesman for the denomination said a formal application for membership would be made within the next two months.
The National Council of Churches comprises 32 Protestant and Orthodox churches, and an application for membership must be approved by at least 21 of the denominations. Warren Day, director of news and information for the council, said, "It's not hard to think of 12 churches that would vote against the application, or abstain from voting." Churches need not explain why they vote to reject an applicant, he said.
Metropolitan Community Churches was founded in 1968 as a denomination that approved of homosexuality and provided ceremonies for homosexual marriages. Dr. Richard J. Follett, director of its Samaritan Theological Institute in Los Angeles, said he believed the church met the criteria for membership in the national council.
According to council bylaws, a member church must have a Christian statement of faith, show that it is an autonomous and stable body and have a definite form of church government. It must also have at least 20,000 members in at least 50 local churches and demonstrate a "spirit of cooperation with, and respect for, the convictions of other communions."
The Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the Metropolitan Community denomination, said he felt it was time to challenge the national council on its membership criteria.
Mr. Day of the council said he was convinced that many member churches would consider the churches' endorsement of homosexuality and homosexual marriages as a "doctrinal issue."
The denomination headed by Mr. Perry, a former Pentecostal minister, is trying to broaden its ecumenical contacts and draw closer to the mainstream of American Christianity.
Churches belonging to the National Council of Churches, Mr. Day said, "have traditionally believed that sex belongs within marriage, and the only marriage they recognize is that between a man and a woman." The council, however, does not insist that its members agree on all moral or ethical issues.
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May 13, 1983, New York Times, Church Council Sees Paradox In Unity, by Charles Austin,
SAN FRANCISCO, May 12— The theological difficulties lying in the way of uniting Christian churches came into clearer view this week in a debate among the leaders of the National Council of Churches.
The issue was not steps toward uniting any of the churches federated in the council, but rather an application for membership submitted by a group of homosexual churches. It was clear from the start that the national council's leadership was not going to accept the application, but in discussing it this question came into focus: How much diversity in theology and practice can be tolerated in an organization seeking to unify churches?
The council's 260-member governing board made it clear that it would not approve the application of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a 27,000-member denomination formed largely of homosexual Christians.
'Limits of Diversity'
"We are raising basic questions about the Christian view of human nature," said Dr. Barbara Brown Zikmund, dean of the Pacific School of Religion. "We are really discussing the limits of legitimate diversity in the Christian faith and whether heresy does exist."
Bishop James Armstrong of the United Methodist Church, president of the council, said, "We need to recognize our serious differences as much as we rejoice at what we have in common."
The range of those differences was evident as speakers from Protestant and Orthodox denominations in the council addressed the governing board, which devoted nearly two days of its four-day meeting to the topic.
The membership application came to the council at a time when some of its social statements have been sharply criticized and it was under scrutiny by some churches that feel the organization is not attending to their concerns.
The governing board did not specifically discuss whether practicing homosexuals could be Christians. Churches have varying views on that question and, by trying to determine whether a denomination formed around homosexuality could be admitted, the council hoped to concentrate on the implication of the question for the fuller church unity they seek.
But the council's chief theological unit, the department of faith and order, reported that the council's own theology was not sharply enough defined to give a clear answer and that each church would have to consider the topic according to its own theology. Several major denominations are trying to deal with requests by homosexuals to be ordained.
Some Call Rejection Unjust
There is some support for admitting the Metropolitan Community Churches, mostly from those who say that rejection is unjust because the council has never required members to agree on ethical issues.
A few theologians say the church needs to reassess its traditional views on homosexuality. The Rev. Susan Turley-Moore of the Swedenborgian Church, in a talk on the the Bible, said, "Jesus does not seem to be concerned with judging the homosexual of his day."
But the Rev. Cecil Murray of the African Methodist Episcopal Church said his church viewed homosexuality as ''an aberration and perversion.''
The nine Eastern Orthodox denominations in the council made it clear that they would leave if the application was approved. "The Orthodox churches do not believe that fellowship with the Metropolitan Community Churches is possible on any level," said the Rev. Alexander Doumouras of the Greek Orthodox Church.
A few members of the governing board believe that the group could be admitted without endorsing its stand on homosexuality, but most feel that membership would impart some sort of validity to homosexual relations.
"I know it would be confusing to the majority of the Methodists in Indiana," Bishop Armstrong, who is from Indiana, said at a news conference after the discussion.
With such opposing views, many fear that even discussing the topic endangers the council and is confusing to lay people. To some, consideration of the topic at by the governing board means that the council's theological position is too vague and needs to be sharpened to conform to the doctrinal views of most member churches.
'New Insights' Aroused
But Dr. Roy Sano, a United Methodist minister who teaches at Pacific School of Religion, told the governing board the churches' study of the issue "aroused new insights within our Christian community."
Dr. Sano and others suggested that the council members needed to learn much more about the Metropolitan Community Churches before voting.
Fewer than a third of the members of the governing board attended a worship service sponsored by the Metropolitan Community Churches on Wednesday night. At that service, the Rev. Troy Perry, a former Baptist and Pentecostal who founded the denomination in 1968, said his church wanted to join the council "because we need the fellowship of our brothers and sisters." Congregations of the Metropolitan Community Churches are already members of some local councils.
Several members of the council's governing board said they worried about how homosexuals in the member denominations would feel when the application is formally rejected, probably at a November meeting.
'You Answer Questions'
"As you talk about our membership, you are answering questions for thousands in your churches," said the Rev. James Sandmire, pastor of a Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco, who addressed the board. "The reason people come to our church is because they can't come to yours."
This concern for the pastoral care of homosexuals was frequently voiced. In a paper, Dr. Paul Fries of the Reformed Church in America suggested that one reason for the existence of a church for homosexuals might be the failure of the traditional churches to give them pastoral care.
Leaders of the Metropolitan Community Churches, present during the discussions here, criticized some segments of the council for lacking an open mind. "Among some people there is no serious attempt to get to know us," said the Rev. Adam DeBaugh, chief ecumenical officer for the Metropolitan Community Churches.
He attributed the imminent defeat of the membership application to fear on the part of board members and called the theological studies a smoke screen.
"The National Council of churches is obsessed with sex," said Mr. DeBaugh. "We are not asking for endorsement of our life styles any more than we endorse the practices of churches that oppress women and minorities."
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October 20, 1983, AP - Observer-Reporter [Washington, PA] page A-3, Bishops Vow To Secede If Gays Accepted,
... if the gay congregations are admitted The Rev. Troy Perry, founder-moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches, said he is "sadly disappointed" by the ...
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October 20, 1983, AP - New York Times, Greek Orthodox Chief Warns Church Unit on Homosexuals,
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19— A Greek Orthodox Archbishop has warned the National Council of Churches that his church will secede from the council if it admits a homosexual denomination.
Archbishop Iakovos said Tuesday that his bishops found it "inconceivable" that the council was considering membership for the Hollywood-based Metropolitan Community Churches, which consists 27,000 members of 148 American congregations in which most of the congregants are male and female homosexuals.
The spiritual leader of two million Greek Orthodox people in North and South America told The Los Angeles Times the Orthodox and Eastern churches did not accept the Metropolitan organizations as "churches."
"They are completely un-Christian and contrary to accepted Christian ecclesiology," he told Claire Randall, general secretary of the 31-denomination National Council of Churches.
He said said the Coptic Church and Armenian Churches in America might also withdraw. The Rev. Troy Perry, founder and moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches, said that he was "sadly disappointed" but that his church would not withdraw its application.
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November 20, 1983, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 1A, Gay love's not easy in a land of straights, by Terry Head, [Continued page 24A]...was formed in 1968 in Los Angeles by the Rev. Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister who discovered well into his career that he was homosexual. there is a ...
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December 25, 1984, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 2C, Homosexual Church Leader Comes Home, by Terry Head,
Rev. Troy Perry is home for Christmas in Auburndale for the first time in 23 years. And while he is here, he has made time to preach at the local branch of his ...
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January 26, 1985, Gainesville Sun, page B1, The Community Church: .This Congregation Wishes It Could Worship Elsewhere, by Harriet Ludwig, Sun Staff,
In researching the church, she learned it was founded by the Rev. Troy Perry, originally from Perry, Fla. He had asked to leave his post as pastor of a Pentecostal ...
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June 13, 1986, AP - The Daily Reporter [Spencer, IA] page 6A, Christian Church Ministering To Homosexuals Is Growing, by Joseph Garcia,
In a recent telephone interview the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily explained other churches— are not ministering to ...
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June 13, 1986, AP - The Nashua Telegraph, page 14, Christian Denomination Ministering To Gays Has Rapid Membership Growth, by Joseph Garcia,
In a recent telephone interview, the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily explained — other churches are not ministering ...
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June 21, 1986, AP - Lawrence Journal-World, page 8, Membership In Gay Churches Growing Rapidly, by Joseph Garcia,
Dedication ceremonies are scheduled for June In a recent telephone interview, the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily ...
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July 20, 1987, The Miami News, page 9A, AIDS To Dominate Gay Churches' Convention,
The Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the church in 1968 said more than 2,000 people from across the Western hemisphere are likely to attend the gathering at the ...
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May 21, 1988, The Toledo Blade, page 2, Christian Group Preaches Tolerance Of Gays, Lesbians, by Mark Zaborney, Blade Staff Writer,
... and get away with," says the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, which ministers to gays and lesbians.
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August 31, 1991, AP - Kentucky New Era, page 6-B, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality, by George W. Cornell, AP Religion Writer,
... our brother and friend, we are thankful for learning to love," said the Rev. Troy Perry, the church's founder and moderator. proclaim your word, your teachings ...
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July 27, 1991, New York Times, Religious Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
While President Bush won overwhelming public endorsement for his leadership in the Persian Gulf war, he was unable to muster a show of support from the bishops of his denomination, the Episcopal Church.
The bishops, meeting last week in Phoenix, defeated by one vote a resolution to commend the President for his "commitment to prayer and his sensitivity to the needs of military personnel, their families and victims of warfare."
The resolution had been narrowly approved earlier by a separate gathering of the denomination's clergy and lay delegates.
The defeat, by a vote of 79 to 78, came after a lively debate among the Bishops. Bishop Sanford Hampton of Minnesota, a critic of the Administration's handling of the war, said that it was "most distressing" to be asked to agree with such a statement.
But a retired bishop, C. FitzSimons Allison of Charleston, S.C., declared, "We have every right to be grateful" for the destruction of Iraq's military might.
The outcome was not a total loss for the President. The bishops also rejected a proposal to condemn some of his policies as "evil" and "incompatible with the Gospel."
Gay Couples Blessed
This summer, as many denominations debate their church's position on homosexuality, 150 gay couples have received the public blessings of a largely homosexual denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church. In a ceremony last week at a Phoenix hotel a few miles from the Episcopal convention, the Rev. Troy Perry of the Community Church raised his hands and asked God to bless the couples.
Mr. Perry, a founder of the church, asked the couples to pledge to love one another "as long as there is love." When 300 voices responded "yes," Mr. Perry added, "This is my proof that despite all the lies told about us, we who are part of this denomination know we are in committed relationships."
Mr. Perry read passages from the Bible about love and commitment and then added, as if to address God, "You never told us we had to be opposite genders." Graham to Central Park
In the old days, when the Rev. Billy Graham would come to town for a rally to encourage people to come to Jesus, Roman Catholic pastors would see his presence as a threat. Some would encourage the faithful to stay away for fear they would be converted to a Protestant denomination. But with the new ecumenical spirit, the Baptist evangelist now presents an opportunity, not a threat. In an unusual gesture, John Cardinal O'Connor, the Archbishop of New York, has been urging priests and lay people to attend Mr. Graham's rally in Central Park on to assist Catholics who want to return to the faith.
The rally, which will be held on the Great Lawn from 4 to 6 P.M. on Sept. 22, will be the first Mr. Graham has held in New York City since he appeared at Shea Stadium in 1970. The Cardinal said he was responding to a request from the Billy Graham Organization, which asked for a Catholic presence at the rally to help "welcome back" alienated Catholics. Unlike some other Christian evangelists, Mr. Graham uses the rallies to get people to go back to their own churches rather than to build up his own.
In a letter to pastors, the Cardinal wrote, "As you might expect, many Catholics who have drifted away from the church may be present at the Central Park rally and may wish to return to church attendance and the reception of the sacraments." He called Dr. Graham "a dynamic preacher."
Sharing Torahs
For a small Jewish congregation, the acquisition of a Torah, the scroll that contains the five Books of Moses, can be expensive. Scripture read from a scroll, handwritten on parchment by a religious scribe, has greater meaning for Jews than text read from the Bible. A Torah can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
The congregational arm of Reform Judaism announced a new effort this week to encourage large, affluent temples to donate or lend their extra scrolls to smaller congregations. The program grew out of a proposal by B. J. Tanenbaum, a member of a 20-family Reform temple in McGehee, Ark., at a convention of small congregations last spring in Nashville.
The congregational arm, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, will match up the temples with extra scrolls and those in need. Of its 850 member congregations, more than half have fewer than 100 families. The Scripture is read from the scroll on the Sabbath and at other religious services; if no scroll is available, the Scripture is read from a Bible.
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September 12, 1991, AP - Ludington Daily News, page 7, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality .Other Churches Fret About It,... sweet Jesus, our brother and friend, we are thankful for learning to love," said the Rev. Troy Perry, the church's founder and moderator. pro claim your word, ...
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January 25, 1992, Herald-Journal [Spartanburg] page B7, Church ministering to gays celebrates anniversary; Metropolitan Community Church is 10 years old, by Ginger Lundy, Staff Writer,
Next weekend when the church holds its 10th anniversary celebration with its national founder, the Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, as the featured guest, ...
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April 11, 1992, The Toledo Blade, page 8, God loves us all, even homosexuals, gay minister says, by Judy Tarjanyi, Blade Religion Editor,
A skeptical reporter once asked the Rev. Troy Perry how a series of evangelistic crusades he was planning would differ from those of Billy Graham. Without ...
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January 30, 1993, New York Times, Religion Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
Next: Gay Chaplains?
With President Clinton making the first moves to lift a 50-year ban on homosexuals in the military, the Rev. Troy Perry says openly gay chaplains are sure to follow.
"There are already thousands of gays and lesbians in the military, and they need our ministry," said Mr. Perry, the head of a largely gay Christian denomination, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. The denomination is based in Los Angeles and has 270 congregations worldwide.
Others would also benefit from the services of the gay chaplains, Mr. Perry said. "Just as a Catholic priest can counsel married couples, we are qualified to deal with all the emotional and spiritual problems of human beings, gay or straight."
The denomination's application to send a gay minister to serve in the military was turned down last year by the Armed Forces Chaplains Board on the ground that the candidate the church presented, the Rev. Carolyn D. Pruitt, was not eligible for service because of her declared homosexuality.
Ms. Pruitt, who was discharged from the Army in 1986 for being a lesbian, has gone to court to challenge the military policy against homosexuals.
Mr. Perry praised the new President for standing by his campaign pledge to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military despite opposition from Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and much of the public. "We are now confident that this discrimination is going to be reversed," Mr. Perry said. "At the minute it takes effect, we will resubmit our application, and we expect to see Rev. Pruitt as a chaplain in the U.S. military."
Investigation Over Ads
An evangelical church in Binghamton, N.Y., is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service after buying newspaper advertisements opposing Mr. Clinton's candidacy last year.
The investigation, which began before the Clinton Administration took office, was acknowledged by the pastor of the congregation, the Rev. Daniel J. Little. The revenue agency had no comment.
The congregation, the Church at Pierce Creek, sponsored advertisements charging that Mr. Clinton supported abortion on demand, rights for homosexuals and the distribution of condoms in public schools. It asked, "Do we really want as President and a role model for our children a man of this character who supports this type of behavior?"
Among the first to object to the ads, which were published in USA Today and The Washington Times in the closing days of the campaign, was a group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Barry Lynn, executive director of the group, noted that during the Presidential campaign the I.R.S. reiterated its policy that churches and other tax-exempt organizations should refrain from partisan politicking.
"In this instance," Mr. Lynn said, "the Church at Pierce Creek has gone beyond prophetic witness. We feel obligated to call on the I.R.S. to act."
Soon after he wrote a letter to the revenue agency expressing his objections, the church heard from I.R.S. officials. "They sent us a long, long list of things they wanted us to supply," Mr. Little said. "And we sent back what answers we felt were appropriate." That was a month ago; the church has heard nothing since.
Mr. Little added that his church acted in the tradition of the biblical prophets who were "the watchman on the wall," sounding the trumpet when "they saw danger coming."
Mr. Little said his church considered the possibility that its tax-exempt status could be jeopardized when it ran the ads, but he believed he was acting with the mandate of God. " I'd much rather face the consequences with the I.R.S. than the consequences with God," he said.
The consequences with the I.R.S. are uncertain because the courts in the past have been reluctant to take away a church's tax exemptions.
Fax It to Jerusalem
The Western Wall in Jerusalem, the last remnant of the biblical Jewish temple, has long been an object of veneration and prayer for Jews around the world. Over the years, a custom has developed to write out one's deepest wishes on a scrap of paper -- known as a k'vitel -- and insert it into the crevices of the ancient wall.
A man will write out the name of his ailing wife with prayers for her recovery. A widow will ask for sustenance, a young man for a bride. The k'vitels join one another in the cracks in the ancient wall.
In the latest union of tradition and technology, Bezek, the Israeli telecommunications company, announced this week that it had installed a fax machine near the wall so that Jews can send their prayers direct. When they are received, a Bezek employee puts the k'vitels into the wall. The direct dial number is (011) 972-2-612-222. The charge is the same as for an ordinary fax.
Rabbi A. James Rudin, a columnist for Religious News Service, contemplated the report of the k'vitel service together with another report, unconfirmed and apparently a hoax, that Roman Catholics will soon be able to fax confessions directly to the Vatican. While he wrote that there is clearly no way to stop the march of technology, he added, "I'll keep trying to reach God the old-fashioned way."
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June 5, 1993, N.Y. Times News Service - The Free Lance-Star, Gay Chaplains Likely To Speak Out, by Ari L. Goldman,....publicity over efforts to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military, the Rev. Troy Perry says openly gay chaplains are sure to come forward. there are already ...
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November 13, 1994, AP - The Tuscaloosa News, page 12B, Growing Homosexual Church Is Meeting This Weekend In N.C.,
The Rev. Troy Perry, who established 26 years ago, said that while the Bible Belt might not seem like friendly territory for homosexuals, it has been one of the ...
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January 22, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page B1, Church Founder To Speak Tonight,
Church founder to speak tonight . The Rev. Troy Perry, founder in 1968 of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, will speak in Venice ...
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January 23, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 1B, Church Founder: God Doesn't Discriminate, by Stephen G. Reed, Staff Writer,
The Rev. Troy Perry was at the Suncoast Cathedral on Wednesday . In October 1968 12 people gathered for religious services in a home in Huntington Park, ...
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June 5, 1997, AP - Gadsden Times, Minister Threatens Mass Gay Marriages At Capitol If State Imposes Ban,
... munity, to join me on the steps of the Alabama Capitol for the largest mass wedding for the gay community ever seen in Alabama," said the Rev. Troy Perry.
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April 30, 2000, New York Times, Gay Marchers Will Flex Political Muscle in Capital, by Elaine Sciolino,
Throngs of gay men and lesbians and their supporters will march on Washington on Sunday to demand public legitimacy and to mobilize as a voting bloc this November.
The "Millennium March" is the fourth national gay march since one in 1979, which was attended by 25,000 people and marked the coming out of the gay rights movement on the political stage. It is also the first to be held in an election year. The last march, held in 1993 shortly after President Clinton took office, brought 300,000 to the Mall.
"Every kind of group is represented -- from the leather community to the parents," said Dianne Hardy-Garcia, 34, the head of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas and an organizer of the march. "We have teenagers and veterans, farmers and ranchers and city dwellers."
One primary goal of the march, Ms. Hardy-Garcia said, is to turn out the largest gay vote in American history "and prove that we are 5 percent of the vote."
Aware of the political ramifications of the march, Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are expected to deliver videotaped remarks of support to the crowd during the six hours of speeches and entertainment on the Mall. Included in the dozens of scheduled speakers are Democratic Representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, both of them gay; Mayor Anthony A. Williams of Washington and Senator Paul Wellstone, the Minnesota Democrat.
The families of Matthew Shepard, a gay student from Wyoming who was beaten to death by two men in 1998, and of James Byrd Jr., a black man dragged to death behind a truck by three whites in Jasper, Tex., that same year, will attend the march to lobby for laws against hate crimes.
Although tens of thousands are expected at the march on Sunday, one of the first events of the weekend, a protest today of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, drew only a handful of demonstrators to the Pentagon, including some who said they were on active duty or former military personnel and their partners.
Bob Kunst, president of Oral Majority, one of the groups involved in the march, attributed the turnout of about 10 people to poor planning by organizers, who he said placed the protest well down the official list of march activities.
Other gay groups have criticized the march, including a number of groups who are boycotting it, saying that its organizers have commercialized the event, have been exclusive in its planning and have failed to adequately turn the spotlight on AIDS and other pressing issues.
"National marches can be a very powerful tool to raise issues," said Bill Dobbs, who has organized the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process. "Unfortunately the purpose and timing of this one are fuzzy. This has become a marketing event in search of a political purpose. This is supposed to be a civil rights struggle, not a corporate marketing event."
In particular, Mr. Dobbs said his group was protesting the visible sponsorship of the march by corporations like United Airlines, Showtime Network and Planet Out.
Ms. Hardy-Garcia countered, saying, "We have obligations to our community to be financially responsible and to find ways to fund these important events." She said the march cost "less than $2 million" to organize.
One focus of this march will be to underscore the family values of gay men and lesbians, organizers said. A number of speakers will call for legislation to help gay and lesbian couples legalize their unions and adopt and provide foster homes for children.
A rally for gays ages 15 to 24 this afternoon will emphasize the need to help them avoid substance abuse and suicide.
On Friday night, the march organizers held a $250 to $500 black tie dinner honoring the entertainer Sir Elton John, the comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her partner, the actress Anne Heche. The dinner included a tribute to Jerry Herman, the composer of the musicals Hello Dolly, Mame and La Cage aux Folles, who has been diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive.
Other planned events today included a demonstration and ceremony celebrating same-sex marriages called ''The Wedding,'' with a $25 entry fee for those who wanted a certificate, was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, the founder of a Christian Church called the Metropolitan Community Church with branches throughout the country, was to preside.
C-SPAN will present six hours of live coverage of the march on Sunday . The march will also be shown on a global Webcast. "I'm hoping that maybe somebody in Pakistan who's gay will be watching and say, 'Wow, I'm not alone in the world,'" Ms. Hardy-Garcia said.
Photo: Judy Shepard, greeting a guest at a party on Friday, with her husband, Dennis. The couple, parents of Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death in 1998, were honored for their work on behalf of gays. They planned to attend the gay rights march today. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
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May 2, 2000, New York Times, Editorial Notebook; Gay, Middle-Aged and Still Militant, by Dudley Clendinen,
There have been so many national marches on Washington by political movements in the last four decades that they have become more a tradition than a novelty. The Park and District police have stopped counting crowds because they found that neither boosters nor critics were ever satisfied. The events themselves no longer qualify as automatic front-page news.
But they remain uniquely important, not just for the sheer numbers involved but for what they tell the nation -- and the protesting populations themselves -- about the current state of each movement. There is no better litmus test of the political health and character of any group than how it responds to the inconvenience of being asked to march on Washington. That is especially true of homosexuals, who in times past tended to be invisible and therefore hard to organize. And the Millennium March on Washington this past weekend -- the fourth national gay rights march in the nation's capital in 31 years -- was significant for what it showed.
The modern movement was born as a radical expression of youth and sexual liberation in 1969, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York rioted against a police raid of the bar. But it was a middle-aged, middle-class movement that crowded the Mall in Washington with hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday, with grandparents in wheelchairs and children underfoot. There were more family, cultural, church and workplace events on the three-day weekend schedule than parties.
There were other differences, too. The cadaverous look of AIDS, visible on the faces of so many in the crowd in 1993, when people with H.I.V. were still routinely dying, was largely absent. In the new panels of the quilt laid on the Mall, memorializing those who have died of AIDS, the deaths taper off noticeably after 1998. Nor was there the same level of anger about the lack of treatment for AIDS, which helped produce a huge turnout at the last march. Even so, a vast throng showed up.
When Washington's mayor, Anthony Williams, welcomed them at noon, he told them they were a crowd of "310,000, on its way to half a million." Some, like Morris Kight, an old radical from Los Angeles now in his 80's, came for the sheer joy of the progress made in law and acceptance in the last three decades. "I'm the happiest old man in the world today," he said. Some, like the Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the gay Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968, came with a particular mission. Mr. Perry began performing symbolic marriages at the march in 1987, at the request of two men dying of AIDS, and at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday he joined 3,000 couples in vows. Many, like Robert Turlington, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who played clarinet in the 130-piece band that led the march, came out of habit and continuity. "This is my third march," he said. "The first was for awareness. The second for anger. This time I brought my family."
It is obvious that the gay rights movement has matured and mellowed. But what was also evident, as dozens of speakers took their turns at the microphone for six and a half hours Sunday afternoon, was the continuing anger and determination of a group that still feels discrimination. Employees can still be fired for being homosexual in 39 states. Homosexuals still get murdered for being gay. They cannot actually marry in any state, and in most places, the young cannot become Scouts, or even form their own groups in school.
The point of the gay rights march last weekend was to show the movement's strength in a presidential election year. Some of the strongest feelings came from the youngest speakers. "We will not be intimidated," said Ivy Fox, a Utah high school student, whose school board disbanded dozens of student groups rather than let gays form one. "And we will not give up."
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May 16, 2003, New York Times, National Briefing | New England: Massachusetts: Honor For Gay Church Founder, by Katie Zezima
The Episcopal Divinity School of Cambridge will give an honorary degree to the Rev. Troy Perry, the gay founder of a predominantly homosexual church. The move has angered some members of the denomination. Episcopal bishops will decide this summer whether to recognize relationships between people of the same sex. Mr. Perry founded the predominantly homosexual church, Metropolitan Community Churches, in 1968. Bishop Steven Charleston, president of the seminary, said Mr. Perry was a ''figure of outstanding importance.'' The Rev. Dr. David L. Moyer, president of Forward in Faith, a conservative Episcopal group, said the invitation went against church doctrine. Katie Zezima (NYT)
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October 2, 2003, AP - The Nevada Daily Mail, page 7, Landmark Gay Church Beginning To Win Acceptance After 35 Years, by Nada El Sawy,The Rev. Troy Perry felt he had a simple mission when he gathered a dozen congregants in his living room in 1968 to sing hymns and take Communion: He ...
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February 13, 2004, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 3B, Local Gay Couples Join National Protest, Request Marriage Papers, by Earle Kimel,
Their action was in response to a call by the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, for gay couples around the country to apply for ...
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August 16, 2004, Boca Raton News [FL] page 3, Boynton Beach Church Ministers To Local Gay Community, by Paige Stein,
Founded In 1968 by the Rev. Troy Perry it Is composed of more than 44.000 members In 300 congregations in 17 countries around the world. are a member of ..
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June 25, 2007, New York Times, Pride On the Sunny Side,
PHOTO: The 38th Gay Pride Parade was graced yesterday by beautiful weather, as well as by Tiffany E. Paraders marched down Fifth Avenue from 52nd Street to Greenwich Village. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, who heads the world's largest predominantly gay synagogue, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, and who was a grand marshal of the parade, said she believed that those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda ''are blaspheming God's name.'' The Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches, was the other grand marshal. (PHOTOGRAPH BY KITRA CAHANA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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September 18, 2010, New York Times, Haunted Man of the Cloth and Pioneer of Gay Rights, by Mark Oppenheimer,
James Stoll, in 1954.
The death this month of Seymour Pine, the vice officer who in June 1969 led a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, unwittingly galvanizing the gay rights movement, is a reminder that history has its forgotten actors, too. For every star in the history of gay rights — think the politician Harvey Milk, or the comedian Ellen DeGeneres — there are many more bit players, people whose names do not even make the credits.
In the world of religion, one of the great neglected actors, a man who had a marquee moment but then fell into obscurity, is the Rev. James Stoll, a Unitarian Universalist who died in 1994. Mr. Stoll, one of the first openly gay ministers in America, had a difficult life, and his demons seemed to follow him to an early grave.
But he was hugely responsible for introducing American churchgoers to gay rights. For those who support gay rights, he ought to be a hero; for those troubled by increased acceptance of homosexuality, he makes a vivid villain.
Mr. Stoll was born in 1936 in Connecticut. He was educated at Mount Hermon School, in Massachusetts, at San Francisco State University and, finally, at Starr King School for the Ministry, in Berkeley, Calif. After being ordained, he pastored a church in Kennewick, Wash., from 1962 until 1969. After leaving the church in Kennewick — church documents indicate that he was asked to resign — he moved back to the Bay Area.
In the words of Mr. Stoll's friend Leland Bond-Upson, who in 2005 first delivered a sermon about him at a church in Petaluma, Calif., Mr. Stoll took a flat in the Eureka Valley neighborhood of San Francisco "with three others (me the draft counselor, Nick the cabinetmaker and Peter the communist revolutionary), and for a full year we four hosted an unending stream of young visitors, all come to look for America or something."
Soon, in September 1969, Mr. Stoll drove Mr. Bond-Upson and two others in his Volkswagen Fastback to the La Foret conference center in Colorado Springs to attend a convention of about 100 college-age Unitarians.
"On the second or third night of the conference," according to Mr. Bond-Upson, "after dinner, Jim got up to speak. He told us that he'd been doing a lot of hard thinking that summer. Jim told us he could no longer live a lie. He’d been hiding his nature — his true self — from everyone except his closest friends. 'If the revolution we’re in means anything,' he said, 'it means we have the right to be ourselves, without shame or fear.'"
"Then he told us he was gay, and had always been gay, and it wasn’t a choice, and he wasn’t ashamed anymore and that he wasn’t going to hide it anymore, and from now on he was going to be himself in public. After he concluded, there was a dead silence, then a couple of the young women went up and hugged him, followed by general congratulations. The few who did not approve kept their peace."
Mr. Stoll was not the first openly gay minister. He had been preceded by at least one man, the Rev. Troy Perry, who the previous year had founded the Metropolitan Community Churches in Los Angeles. That denomination, which has straight members but has always specialized in ministry to queer communities, now claims 43,000 members in 22 countries.
But Mr. Stoll was a minister of an established denomination — a liberal one, often so diverse as to seem post-Christian, but nonetheless one with Christian roots. As such, he brought gay rights to the heterosexual Christian world. Over the next year, newly emboldened, Mr. Stoll wrote articles about gay rights and delivered guest sermons at several churches.
In July 1970, at their general assembly in Seattle, Unitarians passed a resolution condemning discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals. Other churches soon liberalized, too. In 1972, for example, the United Church of Christ ordained an openly gay man, and today there are openly gay Episcopal priests and Lutheran ministers.
Having pioneered an important change in American Christianity, Mr. Stoll never returned to the ministry. In fact, it seems that he could not. According to letters kept at Harvard, sent in 1970 between church members and Unitarian officials, Mr. Stoll had been suspected of drug use and of inappropriate sexual advances toward young people in the Kennewick congregation. The circumstances of his departure made it unlikely he would find another pulpit.
Over the next 25 years, Mr. Stoll had a varied career. He worked as a substance abuse counselor, started a hospice on Maui, in Hawaii, and served as secretary of the San Francisco chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"He died on Dec. 8, 1994," Mr. Bond-Upson said in his 2005 sermon, "a little short of age 59. He died not of AIDS, but of worn-out heart and lungs. He was never able to lose much weight, nor quit smoking. When it was known he was dying, a stream of friends came to say goodbye. Friends arrived from the A.C.L.U., from inner-city social services, from Hunters Point, from drug abuse treatment centers, from the ministry. Yet despite all this matchmaking, and though his romantic side often found expression, Jim never had for long the all-embracing love he longed for."
Mr. Stoll left no descendants, but he had many heirs.
E-mail: Mark.Oppenheimer@nytimes.com; twitter/markopp1
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October 20, 1983, AP - New York Times, Greek Orthodox Chief Warns Church Unit on Homosexuals,
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19— A Greek Orthodox Archbishop has warned the National Council of Churches that his church will secede from the council if it admits a homosexual denomination.
Archbishop Iakovos said Tuesday that his bishops found it "inconceivable" that the council was considering membership for the Hollywood-based Metropolitan Community Churches, which consists 27,000 members of 148 American congregations in which most of the congregants are male and female homosexuals.
The spiritual leader of two million Greek Orthodox people in North and South America told The Los Angeles Times the Orthodox and Eastern churches did not accept the Metropolitan organizations as "churches."
"They are completely un-Christian and contrary to accepted Christian ecclesiology," he told Claire Randall, general secretary of the 31-denomination National Council of Churches.
He said said the Coptic Church and Armenian Churches in America might also withdraw. The Rev. Troy Perry, founder and moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches, said that he was "sadly disappointed" but that his church would not withdraw its application.
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November 20, 1983, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 1A, Gay love's not easy in a land of straights, by Terry Head, [Continued page 24A]...was formed in 1968 in Los Angeles by the Rev. Troy Perry, a Pentecostal minister who discovered well into his career that he was homosexual. there is a ...
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December 25, 1984, Lakeland Ledger [FL] page 2C, Homosexual Church Leader Comes Home, by Terry Head,
Rev. Troy Perry is home for Christmas in Auburndale for the first time in 23 years. And while he is here, he has made time to preach at the local branch of his ...
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January 26, 1985, Gainesville Sun, page B1, The Community Church: .This Congregation Wishes It Could Worship Elsewhere, by Harriet Ludwig, Sun Staff,
In researching the church, she learned it was founded by the Rev. Troy Perry, originally from Perry, Fla. He had asked to leave his post as pastor of a Pentecostal ...
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June 13, 1986, AP - The Daily Reporter [Spencer, IA] page 6A, Christian Church Ministering To Homosexuals Is Growing, by Joseph Garcia,
In a recent telephone interview the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily explained other churches— are not ministering to ...
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June 13, 1986, AP - The Nashua Telegraph, page 14, Christian Denomination Ministering To Gays Has Rapid Membership Growth, by Joseph Garcia,
In a recent telephone interview, the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily explained — other churches are not ministering ...
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June 21, 1986, AP - Lawrence Journal-World, page 8, Membership In Gay Churches Growing Rapidly, by Joseph Garcia,
Dedication ceremonies are scheduled for June In a recent telephone interview, the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the national church, said its fast growth is easily ...
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July 20, 1987, The Miami News, page 9A, AIDS To Dominate Gay Churches' Convention,
The Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the church in 1968 said more than 2,000 people from across the Western hemisphere are likely to attend the gathering at the ...
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May 21, 1988, The Toledo Blade, page 2, Christian Group Preaches Tolerance Of Gays, Lesbians, by Mark Zaborney, Blade Staff Writer,
... and get away with," says the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, which ministers to gays and lesbians.
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August 31, 1991, AP - Kentucky New Era, page 6-B, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality, by George W. Cornell, AP Religion Writer,
... our brother and friend, we are thankful for learning to love," said the Rev. Troy Perry, the church's founder and moderator. proclaim your word, your teachings ...
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July 27, 1991, New York Times, Religious Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
While President Bush won overwhelming public endorsement for his leadership in the Persian Gulf war, he was unable to muster a show of support from the bishops of his denomination, the Episcopal Church.
The bishops, meeting last week in Phoenix, defeated by one vote a resolution to commend the President for his "commitment to prayer and his sensitivity to the needs of military personnel, their families and victims of warfare."
The resolution had been narrowly approved earlier by a separate gathering of the denomination's clergy and lay delegates.
The defeat, by a vote of 79 to 78, came after a lively debate among the Bishops. Bishop Sanford Hampton of Minnesota, a critic of the Administration's handling of the war, said that it was "most distressing" to be asked to agree with such a statement.
But a retired bishop, C. FitzSimons Allison of Charleston, S.C., declared, "We have every right to be grateful" for the destruction of Iraq's military might.
The outcome was not a total loss for the President. The bishops also rejected a proposal to condemn some of his policies as "evil" and "incompatible with the Gospel."
Gay Couples Blessed
This summer, as many denominations debate their church's position on homosexuality, 150 gay couples have received the public blessings of a largely homosexual denomination, the Metropolitan Community Church. In a ceremony last week at a Phoenix hotel a few miles from the Episcopal convention, the Rev. Troy Perry of the Community Church raised his hands and asked God to bless the couples.
Mr. Perry, a founder of the church, asked the couples to pledge to love one another "as long as there is love." When 300 voices responded "yes," Mr. Perry added, "This is my proof that despite all the lies told about us, we who are part of this denomination know we are in committed relationships."
Mr. Perry read passages from the Bible about love and commitment and then added, as if to address God, "You never told us we had to be opposite genders." Graham to Central Park
In the old days, when the Rev. Billy Graham would come to town for a rally to encourage people to come to Jesus, Roman Catholic pastors would see his presence as a threat. Some would encourage the faithful to stay away for fear they would be converted to a Protestant denomination. But with the new ecumenical spirit, the Baptist evangelist now presents an opportunity, not a threat. In an unusual gesture, John Cardinal O'Connor, the Archbishop of New York, has been urging priests and lay people to attend Mr. Graham's rally in Central Park on to assist Catholics who want to return to the faith.
The rally, which will be held on the Great Lawn from 4 to 6 P.M. on Sept. 22, will be the first Mr. Graham has held in New York City since he appeared at Shea Stadium in 1970. The Cardinal said he was responding to a request from the Billy Graham Organization, which asked for a Catholic presence at the rally to help "welcome back" alienated Catholics. Unlike some other Christian evangelists, Mr. Graham uses the rallies to get people to go back to their own churches rather than to build up his own.
In a letter to pastors, the Cardinal wrote, "As you might expect, many Catholics who have drifted away from the church may be present at the Central Park rally and may wish to return to church attendance and the reception of the sacraments." He called Dr. Graham "a dynamic preacher."
Sharing Torahs
For a small Jewish congregation, the acquisition of a Torah, the scroll that contains the five Books of Moses, can be expensive. Scripture read from a scroll, handwritten on parchment by a religious scribe, has greater meaning for Jews than text read from the Bible. A Torah can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
The congregational arm of Reform Judaism announced a new effort this week to encourage large, affluent temples to donate or lend their extra scrolls to smaller congregations. The program grew out of a proposal by B. J. Tanenbaum, a member of a 20-family Reform temple in McGehee, Ark., at a convention of small congregations last spring in Nashville.
The congregational arm, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, will match up the temples with extra scrolls and those in need. Of its 850 member congregations, more than half have fewer than 100 families. The Scripture is read from the scroll on the Sabbath and at other religious services; if no scroll is available, the Scripture is read from a Bible.
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September 12, 1991, AP - Ludington Daily News, page 7, Denomination Celebrates Homosexuality .Other Churches Fret About It,... sweet Jesus, our brother and friend, we are thankful for learning to love," said the Rev. Troy Perry, the church's founder and moderator. pro claim your word, ...
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January 25, 1992, Herald-Journal [Spartanburg] page B7, Church ministering to gays celebrates anniversary; Metropolitan Community Church is 10 years old, by Ginger Lundy, Staff Writer,
Next weekend when the church holds its 10th anniversary celebration with its national founder, the Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, as the featured guest, ...
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April 11, 1992, The Toledo Blade, page 8, God loves us all, even homosexuals, gay minister says, by Judy Tarjanyi, Blade Religion Editor,
A skeptical reporter once asked the Rev. Troy Perry how a series of evangelistic crusades he was planning would differ from those of Billy Graham. Without ...
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January 30, 1993, New York Times, Religion Notes, by Ari L. Goldman,
Next: Gay Chaplains?
With President Clinton making the first moves to lift a 50-year ban on homosexuals in the military, the Rev. Troy Perry says openly gay chaplains are sure to follow.
"There are already thousands of gays and lesbians in the military, and they need our ministry," said Mr. Perry, the head of a largely gay Christian denomination, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. The denomination is based in Los Angeles and has 270 congregations worldwide.
Others would also benefit from the services of the gay chaplains, Mr. Perry said. "Just as a Catholic priest can counsel married couples, we are qualified to deal with all the emotional and spiritual problems of human beings, gay or straight."
The denomination's application to send a gay minister to serve in the military was turned down last year by the Armed Forces Chaplains Board on the ground that the candidate the church presented, the Rev. Carolyn D. Pruitt, was not eligible for service because of her declared homosexuality.
Ms. Pruitt, who was discharged from the Army in 1986 for being a lesbian, has gone to court to challenge the military policy against homosexuals.
Mr. Perry praised the new President for standing by his campaign pledge to end discrimination against homosexuals in the military despite opposition from Congress, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and much of the public. "We are now confident that this discrimination is going to be reversed," Mr. Perry said. "At the minute it takes effect, we will resubmit our application, and we expect to see Rev. Pruitt as a chaplain in the U.S. military."
Investigation Over Ads
An evangelical church in Binghamton, N.Y., is being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service after buying newspaper advertisements opposing Mr. Clinton's candidacy last year.
The investigation, which began before the Clinton Administration took office, was acknowledged by the pastor of the congregation, the Rev. Daniel J. Little. The revenue agency had no comment.
The congregation, the Church at Pierce Creek, sponsored advertisements charging that Mr. Clinton supported abortion on demand, rights for homosexuals and the distribution of condoms in public schools. It asked, "Do we really want as President and a role model for our children a man of this character who supports this type of behavior?"
Among the first to object to the ads, which were published in USA Today and The Washington Times in the closing days of the campaign, was a group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Barry Lynn, executive director of the group, noted that during the Presidential campaign the I.R.S. reiterated its policy that churches and other tax-exempt organizations should refrain from partisan politicking.
"In this instance," Mr. Lynn said, "the Church at Pierce Creek has gone beyond prophetic witness. We feel obligated to call on the I.R.S. to act."
Soon after he wrote a letter to the revenue agency expressing his objections, the church heard from I.R.S. officials. "They sent us a long, long list of things they wanted us to supply," Mr. Little said. "And we sent back what answers we felt were appropriate." That was a month ago; the church has heard nothing since.
Mr. Little added that his church acted in the tradition of the biblical prophets who were "the watchman on the wall," sounding the trumpet when "they saw danger coming."
Mr. Little said his church considered the possibility that its tax-exempt status could be jeopardized when it ran the ads, but he believed he was acting with the mandate of God. " I'd much rather face the consequences with the I.R.S. than the consequences with God," he said.
The consequences with the I.R.S. are uncertain because the courts in the past have been reluctant to take away a church's tax exemptions.
Fax It to Jerusalem
The Western Wall in Jerusalem, the last remnant of the biblical Jewish temple, has long been an object of veneration and prayer for Jews around the world. Over the years, a custom has developed to write out one's deepest wishes on a scrap of paper -- known as a k'vitel -- and insert it into the crevices of the ancient wall.
A man will write out the name of his ailing wife with prayers for her recovery. A widow will ask for sustenance, a young man for a bride. The k'vitels join one another in the cracks in the ancient wall.
In the latest union of tradition and technology, Bezek, the Israeli telecommunications company, announced this week that it had installed a fax machine near the wall so that Jews can send their prayers direct. When they are received, a Bezek employee puts the k'vitels into the wall. The direct dial number is (011) 972-2-612-222. The charge is the same as for an ordinary fax.
Rabbi A. James Rudin, a columnist for Religious News Service, contemplated the report of the k'vitel service together with another report, unconfirmed and apparently a hoax, that Roman Catholics will soon be able to fax confessions directly to the Vatican. While he wrote that there is clearly no way to stop the march of technology, he added, "I'll keep trying to reach God the old-fashioned way."
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June 5, 1993, N.Y. Times News Service - The Free Lance-Star, Gay Chaplains Likely To Speak Out, by Ari L. Goldman,....publicity over efforts to lift the ban on homosexuals in the military, the Rev. Troy Perry says openly gay chaplains are sure to come forward. there are already ...
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November 13, 1994, AP - The Tuscaloosa News, page 12B, Growing Homosexual Church Is Meeting This Weekend In N.C.,
The Rev. Troy Perry, who established 26 years ago, said that while the Bible Belt might not seem like friendly territory for homosexuals, it has been one of the ...
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January 22, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page B1, Church Founder To Speak Tonight,
Church founder to speak tonight . The Rev. Troy Perry, founder in 1968 of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, will speak in Venice ...
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January 23, 1997, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 1B, Church Founder: God Doesn't Discriminate, by Stephen G. Reed, Staff Writer,
The Rev. Troy Perry was at the Suncoast Cathedral on Wednesday . In October 1968 12 people gathered for religious services in a home in Huntington Park, ...
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June 5, 1997, AP - Gadsden Times, Minister Threatens Mass Gay Marriages At Capitol If State Imposes Ban,
... munity, to join me on the steps of the Alabama Capitol for the largest mass wedding for the gay community ever seen in Alabama," said the Rev. Troy Perry.
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April 30, 2000, New York Times, Gay Marchers Will Flex Political Muscle in Capital, by Elaine Sciolino,
Throngs of gay men and lesbians and their supporters will march on Washington on Sunday to demand public legitimacy and to mobilize as a voting bloc this November.
The "Millennium March" is the fourth national gay march since one in 1979, which was attended by 25,000 people and marked the coming out of the gay rights movement on the political stage. It is also the first to be held in an election year. The last march, held in 1993 shortly after President Clinton took office, brought 300,000 to the Mall.
"Every kind of group is represented -- from the leather community to the parents," said Dianne Hardy-Garcia, 34, the head of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas and an organizer of the march. "We have teenagers and veterans, farmers and ranchers and city dwellers."
One primary goal of the march, Ms. Hardy-Garcia said, is to turn out the largest gay vote in American history "and prove that we are 5 percent of the vote."
Aware of the political ramifications of the march, Mr. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore are expected to deliver videotaped remarks of support to the crowd during the six hours of speeches and entertainment on the Mall. Included in the dozens of scheduled speakers are Democratic Representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, both of them gay; Mayor Anthony A. Williams of Washington and Senator Paul Wellstone, the Minnesota Democrat.
The families of Matthew Shepard, a gay student from Wyoming who was beaten to death by two men in 1998, and of James Byrd Jr., a black man dragged to death behind a truck by three whites in Jasper, Tex., that same year, will attend the march to lobby for laws against hate crimes.
Although tens of thousands are expected at the march on Sunday, one of the first events of the weekend, a protest today of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, drew only a handful of demonstrators to the Pentagon, including some who said they were on active duty or former military personnel and their partners.
Bob Kunst, president of Oral Majority, one of the groups involved in the march, attributed the turnout of about 10 people to poor planning by organizers, who he said placed the protest well down the official list of march activities.
Other gay groups have criticized the march, including a number of groups who are boycotting it, saying that its organizers have commercialized the event, have been exclusive in its planning and have failed to adequately turn the spotlight on AIDS and other pressing issues.
"National marches can be a very powerful tool to raise issues," said Bill Dobbs, who has organized the Ad Hoc Committee for an Open Process. "Unfortunately the purpose and timing of this one are fuzzy. This has become a marketing event in search of a political purpose. This is supposed to be a civil rights struggle, not a corporate marketing event."
In particular, Mr. Dobbs said his group was protesting the visible sponsorship of the march by corporations like United Airlines, Showtime Network and Planet Out.
Ms. Hardy-Garcia countered, saying, "We have obligations to our community to be financially responsible and to find ways to fund these important events." She said the march cost "less than $2 million" to organize.
One focus of this march will be to underscore the family values of gay men and lesbians, organizers said. A number of speakers will call for legislation to help gay and lesbian couples legalize their unions and adopt and provide foster homes for children.
A rally for gays ages 15 to 24 this afternoon will emphasize the need to help them avoid substance abuse and suicide.
On Friday night, the march organizers held a $250 to $500 black tie dinner honoring the entertainer Sir Elton John, the comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her partner, the actress Anne Heche. The dinner included a tribute to Jerry Herman, the composer of the musicals Hello Dolly, Mame and La Cage aux Folles, who has been diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive.
Other planned events today included a demonstration and ceremony celebrating same-sex marriages called ''The Wedding,'' with a $25 entry fee for those who wanted a certificate, was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles, the founder of a Christian Church called the Metropolitan Community Church with branches throughout the country, was to preside.
C-SPAN will present six hours of live coverage of the march on Sunday . The march will also be shown on a global Webcast. "I'm hoping that maybe somebody in Pakistan who's gay will be watching and say, 'Wow, I'm not alone in the world,'" Ms. Hardy-Garcia said.
Photo: Judy Shepard, greeting a guest at a party on Friday, with her husband, Dennis. The couple, parents of Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death in 1998, were honored for their work on behalf of gays. They planned to attend the gay rights march today. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
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May 2, 2000, New York Times, Editorial Notebook; Gay, Middle-Aged and Still Militant, by Dudley Clendinen,
There have been so many national marches on Washington by political movements in the last four decades that they have become more a tradition than a novelty. The Park and District police have stopped counting crowds because they found that neither boosters nor critics were ever satisfied. The events themselves no longer qualify as automatic front-page news.
But they remain uniquely important, not just for the sheer numbers involved but for what they tell the nation -- and the protesting populations themselves -- about the current state of each movement. There is no better litmus test of the political health and character of any group than how it responds to the inconvenience of being asked to march on Washington. That is especially true of homosexuals, who in times past tended to be invisible and therefore hard to organize. And the Millennium March on Washington this past weekend -- the fourth national gay rights march in the nation's capital in 31 years -- was significant for what it showed.
The modern movement was born as a radical expression of youth and sexual liberation in 1969, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn in New York rioted against a police raid of the bar. But it was a middle-aged, middle-class movement that crowded the Mall in Washington with hundreds of thousands of people on Sunday, with grandparents in wheelchairs and children underfoot. There were more family, cultural, church and workplace events on the three-day weekend schedule than parties.
There were other differences, too. The cadaverous look of AIDS, visible on the faces of so many in the crowd in 1993, when people with H.I.V. were still routinely dying, was largely absent. In the new panels of the quilt laid on the Mall, memorializing those who have died of AIDS, the deaths taper off noticeably after 1998. Nor was there the same level of anger about the lack of treatment for AIDS, which helped produce a huge turnout at the last march. Even so, a vast throng showed up.
When Washington's mayor, Anthony Williams, welcomed them at noon, he told them they were a crowd of "310,000, on its way to half a million." Some, like Morris Kight, an old radical from Los Angeles now in his 80's, came for the sheer joy of the progress made in law and acceptance in the last three decades. "I'm the happiest old man in the world today," he said. Some, like the Rev. Troy Perry, who founded the gay Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968, came with a particular mission. Mr. Perry began performing symbolic marriages at the march in 1987, at the request of two men dying of AIDS, and at the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday he joined 3,000 couples in vows. Many, like Robert Turlington, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who played clarinet in the 130-piece band that led the march, came out of habit and continuity. "This is my third march," he said. "The first was for awareness. The second for anger. This time I brought my family."
It is obvious that the gay rights movement has matured and mellowed. But what was also evident, as dozens of speakers took their turns at the microphone for six and a half hours Sunday afternoon, was the continuing anger and determination of a group that still feels discrimination. Employees can still be fired for being homosexual in 39 states. Homosexuals still get murdered for being gay. They cannot actually marry in any state, and in most places, the young cannot become Scouts, or even form their own groups in school.
The point of the gay rights march last weekend was to show the movement's strength in a presidential election year. Some of the strongest feelings came from the youngest speakers. "We will not be intimidated," said Ivy Fox, a Utah high school student, whose school board disbanded dozens of student groups rather than let gays form one. "And we will not give up."
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May 16, 2003, New York Times, National Briefing | New England: Massachusetts: Honor For Gay Church Founder, by Katie Zezima
The Episcopal Divinity School of Cambridge will give an honorary degree to the Rev. Troy Perry, the gay founder of a predominantly homosexual church. The move has angered some members of the denomination. Episcopal bishops will decide this summer whether to recognize relationships between people of the same sex. Mr. Perry founded the predominantly homosexual church, Metropolitan Community Churches, in 1968. Bishop Steven Charleston, president of the seminary, said Mr. Perry was a ''figure of outstanding importance.'' The Rev. Dr. David L. Moyer, president of Forward in Faith, a conservative Episcopal group, said the invitation went against church doctrine. Katie Zezima (NYT)
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October 2, 2003, AP - The Nevada Daily Mail, page 7, Landmark Gay Church Beginning To Win Acceptance After 35 Years, by Nada El Sawy,The Rev. Troy Perry felt he had a simple mission when he gathered a dozen congregants in his living room in 1968 to sing hymns and take Communion: He ...
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February 13, 2004, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 3B, Local Gay Couples Join National Protest, Request Marriage Papers, by Earle Kimel,
Their action was in response to a call by the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, for gay couples around the country to apply for ...
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August 16, 2004, Boca Raton News [FL] page 3, Boynton Beach Church Ministers To Local Gay Community, by Paige Stein,
Founded In 1968 by the Rev. Troy Perry it Is composed of more than 44.000 members In 300 congregations in 17 countries around the world. are a member of ..
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June 25, 2007, New York Times, Pride On the Sunny Side,
PHOTO: The 38th Gay Pride Parade was graced yesterday by beautiful weather, as well as by Tiffany E. Paraders marched down Fifth Avenue from 52nd Street to Greenwich Village. Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, who heads the world's largest predominantly gay synagogue, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, and who was a grand marshal of the parade, said she believed that those who use religion to advocate an anti-gay agenda ''are blaspheming God's name.'' The Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches, was the other grand marshal. (PHOTOGRAPH BY KITRA CAHANA/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
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September 18, 2010, New York Times, Haunted Man of the Cloth and Pioneer of Gay Rights, by Mark Oppenheimer,
James Stoll, in 1954.
The death this month of Seymour Pine, the vice officer who in June 1969 led a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, unwittingly galvanizing the gay rights movement, is a reminder that history has its forgotten actors, too. For every star in the history of gay rights — think the politician Harvey Milk, or the comedian Ellen DeGeneres — there are many more bit players, people whose names do not even make the credits.
In the world of religion, one of the great neglected actors, a man who had a marquee moment but then fell into obscurity, is the Rev. James Stoll, a Unitarian Universalist who died in 1994. Mr. Stoll, one of the first openly gay ministers in America, had a difficult life, and his demons seemed to follow him to an early grave.
But he was hugely responsible for introducing American churchgoers to gay rights. For those who support gay rights, he ought to be a hero; for those troubled by increased acceptance of homosexuality, he makes a vivid villain.
Mr. Stoll was born in 1936 in Connecticut. He was educated at Mount Hermon School, in Massachusetts, at San Francisco State University and, finally, at Starr King School for the Ministry, in Berkeley, Calif. After being ordained, he pastored a church in Kennewick, Wash., from 1962 until 1969. After leaving the church in Kennewick — church documents indicate that he was asked to resign — he moved back to the Bay Area.
In the words of Mr. Stoll's friend Leland Bond-Upson, who in 2005 first delivered a sermon about him at a church in Petaluma, Calif., Mr. Stoll took a flat in the Eureka Valley neighborhood of San Francisco "with three others (me the draft counselor, Nick the cabinetmaker and Peter the communist revolutionary), and for a full year we four hosted an unending stream of young visitors, all come to look for America or something."
Soon, in September 1969, Mr. Stoll drove Mr. Bond-Upson and two others in his Volkswagen Fastback to the La Foret conference center in Colorado Springs to attend a convention of about 100 college-age Unitarians.
"On the second or third night of the conference," according to Mr. Bond-Upson, "after dinner, Jim got up to speak. He told us that he'd been doing a lot of hard thinking that summer. Jim told us he could no longer live a lie. He’d been hiding his nature — his true self — from everyone except his closest friends. 'If the revolution we’re in means anything,' he said, 'it means we have the right to be ourselves, without shame or fear.'"
"Then he told us he was gay, and had always been gay, and it wasn’t a choice, and he wasn’t ashamed anymore and that he wasn’t going to hide it anymore, and from now on he was going to be himself in public. After he concluded, there was a dead silence, then a couple of the young women went up and hugged him, followed by general congratulations. The few who did not approve kept their peace."
Mr. Stoll was not the first openly gay minister. He had been preceded by at least one man, the Rev. Troy Perry, who the previous year had founded the Metropolitan Community Churches in Los Angeles. That denomination, which has straight members but has always specialized in ministry to queer communities, now claims 43,000 members in 22 countries.
But Mr. Stoll was a minister of an established denomination — a liberal one, often so diverse as to seem post-Christian, but nonetheless one with Christian roots. As such, he brought gay rights to the heterosexual Christian world. Over the next year, newly emboldened, Mr. Stoll wrote articles about gay rights and delivered guest sermons at several churches.
In July 1970, at their general assembly in Seattle, Unitarians passed a resolution condemning discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals. Other churches soon liberalized, too. In 1972, for example, the United Church of Christ ordained an openly gay man, and today there are openly gay Episcopal priests and Lutheran ministers.
Having pioneered an important change in American Christianity, Mr. Stoll never returned to the ministry. In fact, it seems that he could not. According to letters kept at Harvard, sent in 1970 between church members and Unitarian officials, Mr. Stoll had been suspected of drug use and of inappropriate sexual advances toward young people in the Kennewick congregation. The circumstances of his departure made it unlikely he would find another pulpit.
Over the next 25 years, Mr. Stoll had a varied career. He worked as a substance abuse counselor, started a hospice on Maui, in Hawaii, and served as secretary of the San Francisco chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"He died on Dec. 8, 1994," Mr. Bond-Upson said in his 2005 sermon, "a little short of age 59. He died not of AIDS, but of worn-out heart and lungs. He was never able to lose much weight, nor quit smoking. When it was known he was dying, a stream of friends came to say goodbye. Friends arrived from the A.C.L.U., from inner-city social services, from Hunters Point, from drug abuse treatment centers, from the ministry. Yet despite all this matchmaking, and though his romantic side often found expression, Jim never had for long the all-embracing love he longed for."
Mr. Stoll left no descendants, but he had many heirs.
E-mail: Mark.Oppenheimer@nytimes.com; twitter/markopp1
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