Norman Wright

Rev. Norman Wright
California-Pacific Conference
United Methodist Church

Given by Ed Hansen, Pastor
Hollywood United Methodist Church,
California

This stole is given in memory of the Reverend Norman Wright, a United Methodist pastor who served in the California-Pacific Conference.  It was the stole that Norm and his wife had prepared for me when I was privileged to co-officiate at their wedding.  Norm was tragically killed in an auto accident in the 1980's.  He was deeply committed to justice issues and gave leadership for this in the Conference and District.  The inclusion of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons was at the top of his list of concerns.  His own bisexuality did not prevent him from entering in to a wonderful marriage.  Rather it enabled him to have understanding and empathy with those who felt marginalized by their sexual orientation.  I dedicate this stole to Norm's memory.

This stole, in memory of  Norman Wright, a United Methodist minister who was bisexual, was given to us in advance of the 2000 General Conference of the UnitedMethodistChurch in Cleveland, OH.  It is one of two stoles given to the collection by Ed Hansen (#716 & 719). 

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