Rev. Brent Dugan

Rev. Brent Dugan
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Pittsburgh, PA

Rev. Brent Dugan was the well-loved pastor of the Community Presbyterian Church of Ben Avon, Pittsburgh, PA, for 18 years. While there he was very active in the Malawi Partnership between Pittsburgh Presbytery and the Synod of Blantyre, Malawi, Africa, and founded the Community Theater Players in Ben Avon. Before Ben Avon, Brent served two churches in West Virginia after graduating from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1972. During the memorial service for Brent, his family shared how, at age five, he had built a pulpit from cinder blocks in the backyard to practice preaching. Five days before taking his life, Brent had accepted a call to the Mendocino Presbyterian Church in California. When he disappeared, Brent expected to be disgraced on a local TV 11 o’clock news as a minister possibly violating the rules of his church.

Before throwing himself on the mercy of God, the Father, with his Lord, Jesus Christ, at his side, Brent wrote letters to his friends, loved ones, and colleagues in ministry. That Brent was gay came out in these letters after his death. In his letter to the Pittsburgh Presbytery, Brent shared that he had hoped all his life to be swept off his feet by a woman, but that this never happened. So he devoted himself to his church family, to his sister’s children, and to his community. This devotion was deep and moving for everyone he met and yet his closest friends comment that there was a private place in Brent to which he never gave them access. Brent shared after his death that he had had sexual encounters with a man. He exhorted us all to live exemplary lives.

To his congregation, Brent wrote, “This incident [his death] will not be easy to overcome, but overcome you must. You are the people of Jesus Christ, God’s Chosen. Please stay together.”

Friends in Ministry

This stole arrived in the mail.

David Lohman
Faith Work Coordinator
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's Institute for Welcoming Resources
Home of the Shower of Stoles Project
2007