Model Ministries for Peace Rooted in Justice

For a six-week period in October and November 2009, Shell Ridge Community Church displayed 50 stoles from the Shower of Stoles Project in their gallery space.  A project from the Institute for Welcoming Resources, The Shower of Stoles is a collection of over a thousand liturgical stoles representing the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of faith. These religious leaders have served in thirty-two denominations and faith traditions, in six countries, and on three continents. Each stole contains the story of a LGBT person who is active in the life and leadership of their faith community. This extraordinary collection celebrates the gifts of LGBT persons who serve God in countless ways, while also lifting up those who have been excluded from service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The collection bears witness to the huge loss of leadership that the church has brought upon itself because of its own unjust policies.


Shell Ridge began an intentional conversation regarding what it means to be a “welcoming and affirming” church in May 2007.  After tremendous amounts of prayer, discussion, thought, and study the congregation voted to be an official “welcoming and affirming” church in January 2009.  The Shower of Stoles Project is Shell Ridge’s first major “coming out” event for the church. As such, the exhibition covers the span of World Communion Sunday, National Coming Out Sunday, and Arts Sunday. Two of these days are always big celebration in our worship, while Coming Out Sunday was a first for our community of faith.


The reaction to the Shower of Stoles exhibition from the church has been primarily positive.  Many people have been deeply moved and challenged in meaningful ways from reading the stories on the stoles.  Children have even worn some of the stoles as a way of illustrating that all people are priests and ministers in our Baptist tradition.  Shell Ridge is proud and honored to host the Shower of Stoles as our way of affirming that art and justice do, indeed, go hand-in-hand, and that denying ordination to persons in the LGBT community is, indeed, a justice issue.  With the Shower of Stoles Project, we proudly proclaim that God calls and affirms all people and it is our responsibility to do the same.


Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber is the Associate Pastor of Arts and Education at Shell Ridge Community Church in Walnut Creek, CA. Contact her for more information at ang0081@hotmail.com.


►Visit Shell Ridge Communty Church on the web at www.shellridge.org