Judith J. (Westendorf) WestLee

Judith J. (Westendorf) WestLee
Elder, United Methodist Church
Minnesota Annual Conference

I was raised in a denomination that taught me I had an angry, judging God who was to be feared.  I was in my 30's before I heard I had a God who loved me "Warts and all."  After a series of events I turned my life over to God.

I heard God's call to ministry.  I served 10 years in small parishes.  All I ever wanted to do was to share in God's love and walk with God's people.

After coming to my first appointment, I finally faced my sexual identity.  I was 41 years old.  I struggled to justify my new sexual identity with my understanding of scripture and Christian tradition.  I came out to my bishop and cabinet.  I took a personal vow of celibacy.  Then I met the most remarkable woman!  We fell in love.  We had a union service.  I am now on Leave of Absence.  I constantly miss ministry and serving God through serving God's people.

My ministry today is as a volunteer in Affirmation -- United Methodists for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Concerns and in the Reconciling Congregation movement.  I make my living today selling water heaters for Sears.

Two lines in this rather compact stole story have caught the attention of many people.  The first line always brings a chuckle: "I took a personal vow of celibacy.  Then I met the most remarkable woman!"  (How many of us could say the very same thing?)

The second line stops people cold: "I make my living today selling water heaters for Sears."  This is the abrupt ending to her story.  In a denomination with a pastor shortage, one that is particularly acute among small and rural parishes, here is a gifted pastor who loved small church ministry -- and who is now working as a retail clerk, simply because of her sexual orientation.  Such a loss to the denomination, and to these small churches she served.

Judy and her partner, Janet, have been volunteers with Affirmation and the Reconciling Ministries Network for many years.  They continue to be an active leaders in a Reconciling Congregation in Minneapolis.  They are members of Wesley United Methodist Church in Minneapolis (see stole #518)

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