Richard Rossiter

Rev. Richard Rossiter

My name is Richard Rossiter, and I am a former United Methodist pastor who served congregations for sixteen years in the Colorado and West Michigan Annual Conferences.  I chose to relinquish my credentials  on February 4, 1996.  After serving nearly three years as an openly gay United Methodist Pastor in Coloma, Michigan, I needed to "let go" of my childhood church in love.  The United Methodist Church would not honor my blessed relationship.  During those difficult days, it felt like I continued to be part of an abusive relationship… it was time to let go and live authentically with myself, my life-partner and God.

Today, I have reaffirmed my ordination with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) and am serving again as pastor!  My spiritual gifts and talents are being used in a denomination that affirms and celebrates my gay soul and my relationship.  What a blessing UFMCC is to the world!

Today is the fourth anniversary of my choice to relinquish my United Methodist ordination.  How appropriate that on this day I would write this letter and send this stole.  I rejoice in the mystery of it all and pray often for the United Methodist Church.

I live with my life-partner, the Rev. Perry Wiggins in Oak Park, Illinois.  He and my children, Elizabeth and Matthew Rossiter, continue to be precious gifts to me.

Richard Rossiter and his partner, Perry Wiggins, were both ordained United Methodist ministers.   Richard relinquished his ordination in 1996, and now serves as a pastor in the Metropolitan Community Church.  In a poignant note, Richard mentions that this stole was made on the fourth anniversary of his relinquishing his ordination -- clearly this was the UMC's loss and the MCC's gain!  In addition to his own stole, a Signature Stole honoring Richard was donated by Coloma, MI United Methodist Church, the last United Methodist church that Richard served (#635).  Perry, who also gave a stole to the collection (#510), is attempting to retain his ordination in the UMC as retired clergy.

This stole was given to us in advance of the 2000 General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Cleveland, OH.  In 1999, the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) inquired about the possibility of having a display of the Shower of Stoles at the General Conference the following April.  At the time, there were only around twenty United Methodist stoles in the collection.  We decided to introduce the Shower of Stoles to the Reconciling community by bringing the twenty UM stoles and about a hundred others to RMN’s Convocation in Denton, TX over the Labor Day weekend.  Stoles started to trickle in during the fall, and by February they began coming in droves.  In all, we received 220 United Methodist stoles – the vast majority of them arriving within eight weeks of the Conference.  Thanks to a monumental effort by a number of volunteers who pitched in to help record, inventory, sew labels and make last-minute repairs, all of the new stoles were present in Cleveland.  Twenty more people brought stoles directly to Cleveland, bringing the total number on display to 240.

 Towards the end of the General Conference, twenty eight lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender United Methodists and allies stood on the Conference floor in silent protest over the Conference’s failure to overturn the ban on LGBT ordination – a profound witness and act of defiance for which they were later arrested.  As these twenty eight moved to the front of the room, another 200 supporters stood up around the balcony railing, each wearing one of the new United Methodist stoles.  Hundreds more stood in solidarity as well, in the balcony and on the plenary floor, wearing symbolic “stoles” made from colorful bands of cloth.  A group of young people from Minneapolis, members of a Communicant’s Class, had purchased bolts of cloth the preceding evening and stayed up all night cutting out close to a thousand of these “stoles”.  In less than eight months, a handful of stoles had grown to become a powerful, visible witness to the steadfast faith of LGBT United Methodists nationwide.

Martha Juillerat

Founder, Shower of Stoles Project

2006