Paul Abels

Rev. Paul Abels
1937-1992

Rev. Paul Abels, Ohio native and Drew Seminary graduate, was pastor of Washington Square United Methodist Church in New York City from 1973 until his retirement in 1984.  In 1977 he announced his homosexuality and also performed several covenant ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples.  (He continued performing such ceremonies until his death.)

In 1978 he was asked to take a leave of absence by Bishop W. Ralph Ward.  Paul refused and the New York annual conference upheld his ministry at Washington Square church.  The bishop asked the Judicial Council to review Paul's status and in 1979 the Council ruled that Paul Abels was in "good standing' and in "effective relation" with his congregation and could remain at Washington Square.

In 1982 Paul himself entered into a Christian covenant with his life partner, Thom Hunt, at Washington Square UMC in New York City.  Paul took an early retirement just before the 1984 General Conference.  He died of complications from AIDS in 1992 in Rensselaerville, NY.

Paul Abels is greatly missed but he has left us with his sense of compassion and social justice for all God's children, Christian or Jew, black or white, gay or straight.  As the pioneer that he was, he understood and lived out in a deep way the hospitality of God.

A quote of Paul's was: "I pray that we will experience the liberating love of God as shown through Jesus Christ, and grow more responsible in our love and care.  Then our relationships will have the authenticity of the gospel, and our lives shall show forth praise."

The Rev. Paul M. Abels, Pastor of Washington Square United Methodist Church in New York City from 1973-1984, was the first openly gay installed parish pastor in a major Christian denomination.  He served during a time of cutting-edge social justice work for the church; it was home to the Harvey Milk School of lesbian and gay youth and the Gay Men's Health Crisis Center.  Known as the "Peace Church" due to its antiwar activism during the Vietnam War, Washington Square hosted dozens of other activist groups over the years, from the Black Panthers to community housing development organizations and a variety of dance, theater and music groups.  (Washington Square has since merged with Church of All Nations and Metropolitan-Duane United Methodist Churches.)

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

Click here to read Paul Abels' biographic profile in the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network's Profile Gallery.