Skip to main content
Archives Exhibit

← Back to The Church of the Beloved Disciple

Jet Magazine coverage of the Church of the Beloved Disciple's first widely publicized Holy Union ceremony

http://d2osek5pf4af91.cloudfront.net/archive_objects/LGBTQ-RAN/CBD_001.jpeg

Dublin Core

Title

Jet Magazine coverage of the Church of the Beloved Disciple's first widely publicized Holy Union ceremony

Description

Published on May 13, 1971, this Jet magazine article brought national attention to the Church of the Beloved Disciple and its pioneering ministry to LGBTQ Christians. The feature reported on the Holy Union of Joan B. Kearse and Bobbi Jean Sanchez, a ceremony originally celebrated by Fr. Robert M. Clement in April 1971 at the Church of the Holy Apostles, an Episcopal parish on West 28th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood where the church was renting space for its services. Attended by nearly 300 people, the service became one of the earliest same-sex Christian union ceremonies in NYC to receive widespread media coverage. The article introduced a broad audience to Clement's ministry and the Church of the Beloved Disciple as a pioneering religious community affirming same-sex relationships.

Source

Church of the Beloved Disciple Archive, https://beloved-disciple.com

Identifier

CBD_001

Citation

“Jet Magazine coverage of the Church of the Beloved Disciple's first widely publicized Holy Union ceremony”, Queer Sacramentality: The Church of the Beloved Disciple, LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, accessed September 13, 2026, https://exhibits.lgbtran.org/exhibits/show/cbd/item/2653.