Jannine Jennings

I am a child of God

Jesus loves me.  This I know, for the Bible tells me so.

God created me… Just as I am and that creation is good!  Gen 1:27, 31

Jannine Jennings
Former Elder, Wapato Community Presbyterian Church, Wapato, WA
Member, Wallingford United Methodist Church, Seattle, WA

Elder - Clerk of Session  - Trustee - Sunday School Teacher - Co Chair, Pastor Nominating Committee - Youth Leader - Chair, Finance Committee - Turkey Carver - Chair, Christian Education Committee - Friend - Confidant - Single Woman

And then came Amendment B - The Presbyterian Church said that I was no longer welcome to serve.  Even though no one in the local church knew I was a lesbian, I knew.  And I knew I could not lie to God about my sexuality or defy Church law.  So, I left the church, wondering if there would ever be a place where I could serve in Christian community and be accepted for all of who I am.

Fortunately I've found a Reconciling United Methodist Church where I can freely worship and serve God.  Here I am accepted.  Here there is no fear.  Here my wounds are healing.  Here I've grown to accept myself more fully.

However, I know this does not exist at every church.  Both clergy and laity are still suffering and discriminated against.  The tears will not stop flowing from my heart until all God's people are allowed to worship and serve openly, without the fear of being rejected or violating Church law.

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