Glynn Moreland

GLYNN MORELAND

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA

Glynn Moreland was Richmond, Virginia's first PLGC Chapter President in the early 1990s.  He was a member of First Presbyterian Church and loved singing in the church choir.  He worked at the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the last few years of his life at the Fan Free Clinic.  Glynn was an out gay man.  He never quit believing that his church was inclusive and would eventually stop its practice of discriminating against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered.  And he worked for inclusivity with PLGC, in his own church community and at the Presbytery level.

Glynn had a lot of style.  The stole's appliques reflect some aspects of his life and personality.  He organized a benefit to raise money for HIV/AIDS that event was called Heartstings and that is the prominent theme of the stole.  A Virginia Tech alumnus, he was an avid Virginia Tech football fan.  He grew up on a farm, and was equally comfortable talking with farmers and retail people.  He collected teapots and decorated his house with large flowers, which he called a house broach.  He loved Christmas.

Glynn died in the mid 1990s from complications from AIDS.  His funeral was held at First Presbyterian Church.  His beloved choir sang.  Many friends were there.  He is truly missed.

Glynn, Dorothy and Lisa were faithful Presbyterians who, although living and attending church in a decidedly conservative area, believed in the best that the Presbyterian Church could be and held out hope that the church would come to love them as much as they loved the church.  All three were active in the Richmond Chapter of Presbyterians for Lesbian and Gay Concerns (later called More Light Presbyterians), and Dorothy served on the national board of PLGC.

Glynn died with his vision for a welcoming church unfulfilled.  Dorothy and Lisa were later driven out of their own congregation by a cadre of homophobic members who took offense to Lisa's having been invited to read the scripture in church one Sunday, and they left the denomination for good. 

Martha Juillerat
Founder, Shower of Stoles Project
2006