Restored Portrait of Fr. Robert Mary Clement

Restored Portrait of Fr. Robert Mary Clement

This digitally restored photograph depicts the Rev. Robert Mary Clement before the founding of the Church of the Beloved Disciple. At the time, Clement was serving as a parish priest of the Polish National Catholic Church in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. In 1968 he founded the American Orthodox Church of the United States (Western Orthodox). His LGBTQ ministry began in 1968, and the Church of the Beloved Disciple held its first public Mass in New York City on July 19, 1970, openly ministering to gay and lesbian Christians. Clement's ministry would become a pioneering force in the movement for LGBTQ inclusion within historic Christian sacramental traditions.

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

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