"Jocelyn Hasty"

This stole is displayed to the Glory of God in memory of
Jocelyn Hasty and Rachel Jennings
life-long friends, housemates, Churchwomen and Deacons in the Presbyterian Church

Jo was a life-long member of a small Presbyterian church in Minnesota when she died.  In preparing her funeral, I learned she had never married and had no children and very few relatives.  At her burial I was told Jo was being buried next to her parents and Rachel, her longtime friend and companion, with whom she had lived and served the church for over 40 years.  -- her pastor

"Jocelyn Hasty" and "Rachel Jennings" are chosen pseudonyms for two life-long companions who had served as ordained Deacons in the Presbyterian Church for many years.  The pastor came to know "Jo" before she died.  Born in an era when two women would have referred to themselves as "companions" rather than "partners," certainly wouldn't have labeled themselves as lesbian, and wouldn't have talked openly about it one way or another, this pastor was savvy enough to create a safe space in which the nature of their relationship could be made clear.

Martha Juillerat
Founder, Shower of Stoles Project
2006