Signature Stole honoring Anonymous Colleagues in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

The creator of this stole has been an ordained clergywoman in the UMC since 1975, serving churches for 18 years in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference before retooling for her current appointment as a Chaplain of Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, Montana.

In the winter of 200 she wrote to a few friends:  "From the very first days of my entrance into the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, in 1978, I have been blessed with mentors who were, for me personally, pastor in my own spiritual life.  Some were ordained, some were not.  Some of these persons have been gay and lesbian persons.  I have quietly supported those gay and lesbian mentors and advocated for change within the UMC.  As the UMC gathers in Cleveland, OH this May, I want to give witness to my belief that Christ welcomes us all to the Communion Table, and that God is inviting us in the UMC to do a new thing.

There are many of us in the UMC who have felt our integrity compromised by the UM Book of Discipline's exclusive language stating, "Homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching."  It is my prayer that this year at General Conference there will be a change in that language and those whose ministry and membership we have denied will be invited home.  When that language is changed, it is also my prayer that those  more conservative folks at the Communion Table with us will not leave the UMC, but will stay at the table.

This stole was given to us in advance of the 2000 General Conference of the UnitedMethodistChurch in Cleveland, OH.  It was created by Brenda Willis and on behalf of a group of friends who wished to honor their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends and colleagues in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  (Note: A “signature stole” is one that is covered with the signatures of both gay and straight members of a congregation, denominational governing body, or other organization.  These stoles serve the dual purpose of showing support for LGBT persons, while also protecting their anonymity by including their names as "one among many".)

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