Solidarity Stole

(Note: A solidarity stole is one that is covered with the signatures of both gay and straight members of a congregation, denominational governing body, or other organization.  These stoles serve the dual purpose of showing support for LGBT persons, while also protecting their anonymity by including their names as "one among many".)

The Shower of Stoles Project owes its very existence to St. Luke Presbyterian Church, a More Light congregation working for the full inclusion of LGBT persons into the full life and leadership of the church.

St. Luke, founded in the 1960's, is situated in one of the wealthiest communities in Minnesota.  Although architects presented various plans for opulent, multi-million dollar sanctuaries, St. Luke's first members chose instead to build a very simple, low maintenance, multi-use building that would allow them to commit more of their financial resources to social justice causes.  (To this day, St. Luke's lack of air conditioning and rough gravel parking lot are a source of pride for their members.)  This allowed them to institute a policy of "One-to-One Giving," mandating the church to give away one dollar for every dollar spent on themselves.  Thus, when faced with the need to tear down and rebuild their education wing last year, the budget for their capital fund drive was set for double the amount needed for construction, and plans were made to give away the additional hundreds of thousands of dollars to affordable housing, peacemaking and human rights causes locally and throughout the world.

It was this visionary financial commitment, coupled with a desire to fund new projects not supported by more traditional funding sources, that made it possible for my partner, Tammy, and I to turn a serendipitous event into an international project.

By late 1996, my partner, Tammy and I had collected well over three hundred stoles -- kept in plastic trash bags and old suitcases -- and we were beginning to get requests for displays from dozens of churches.  At the time we were not an incorporated project, had no legal status and no funding; Tammy and I paid for these first displays out of our own pockets.  Since we had both returned to school, however, and had very meager income from part-time jobs, we soon hit the financial wall.  Two churches, St. Luke and First United Church of Oak Park, IL, sensed the importance of what we had in our hands and decided to take a chance.  Both churches wrote us a check for a few thousand dollars with instructions to get the stoles out of trash bags and find a way to share them with the world.

The end result, we believe, is far greater than any of us could possibly have imagined.

This signature stole was given to us on New Year's Day 1997, when Tammy and I traveled to Minnesota to thank St. Luke for its gift, and to share a display of the stoles with the congregation.  Over the years, St. Luke has remained the single largest benefactor of the Shower of Stoles Project.  In 2002 two St. Luke members, Beth Chaplin and TJ Worrell, donated their professional services to create the acclaimed video, "So Great a Cloud of Witnesses: The Story of the Shower of Stoles Project."  It is safe to say that thousands of LGBT people of faith around the world, long silenced by their faith communities, now know that their stories will be given voice thanks to this one remarkable congregation.

Martha Juillerat
Founder, Shower of Stoles Project
2006