Raymond

Hope

Raymond

(Japanese characters)

This is one of about thirty stoles donated by First Presbyterian of Palo Alto.  First Palo Alto, a More Light congregation, has for decades been on the forefront of the movement for full inclusion of LGBT persons into the life and leadership of the church and greater society.  Among the many leaders of the movement who have come from this congregation is Mitzi Henderson, former national President of PFLAG and national Co-Moderator of More Light Presbyterians.

The Japanese characters are a rough translation of the English words HOPE - RAYMOND.  It is one of about a dozen stoles in the collection that include Japanese, Chinese or Korean characters.

In 1998 I brought a display of stoles to a conference of LGBT seminarians being held at Chicago Theological Seminary.  The stoles were hung along a cloister walkway at the front of the building; this stole was near the entrance.  At one point a young Japanese man came through the entrance, saw this stole, and burst into tears. 

I found out later that he was converted by Nazarene missionaries in Japan, and that they had arranged for him to attend a Nazarene college and seminary.  While in the U.S. he began to accept his sexuality, but when he began mentioning to others that he was gay, he was dropped immediately from the seminary.  With limited English, and his entire support system in this country now gone, he was trying to start over as as student at CTS, an LGBT-supportive seminary affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

All this I would hear later.  At the time, he simply touched the stole and said, "Thank God, I am not alone!"

Martha Juillerat
Founder, Shower of Stoles Project
2006