Steven H. Olofson

Steven H. Olofson

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a life long United Methodist and I am a gay man.

In the UMC I have served as a Certified Lay Speaker, Lay Delegate to Annual Conference, Lay Conference Council representative and I stood as a witness/sponsor for a Deacon and an Elder at their ordinations.  On the local church level: Lay Leader, Trustee, Church Council and choir director.  I started a gospel band, which ministered to Western New York and Pennsylvania for 6 years and recorded an album with them.

I was heterosexually married for 9 years.  I firmly believed that God would see how sincere I was in wanting to be like the conservatives were telling me to be.  Yet at no time was there any indication from God that He had any plans on changing me, not even after years of prayer, fasting, counseling, begging and crying for as long as I can recall knowing my attractions.  Yet after we decided to divorce because I finally admitted to myself and my wife that I was gay, I put myself into exile from the church because I thought God would no longer want me.  I was wrong!

I have now been in a monogamous relationship with my partner (Robert) for 11 years.  I had thought I was alone, I was again wrong.  I have met so many others that felt the same way I did.  I also know of many that could not handle it because of the pressure and assaults that are hurled at lesbian and gay persons that they gave up on faith.  Some gave up on their lives.

How many have left the church or left this world without knowing Jesus because they were told they were not welcome?  How many teens have given up on their lives because of the intolerance toward them for the way that God created them?  I can answer that easily, TOO MANY!

My other burning question is how can we allow people to pick and choose scripture as our level of tolerance permits?  Example:  Why is the "Holiness Code" statement on men with men shoved down our throats yet others are ignored?  If it a 'moral thing' then those that see fit to protest at funerals of gay people should picket funerals of divorced persons too, but they don't.  It's bigotry and how can our denomination permit this to continue?

The issue should not be dividing our church.

Please work toward peace, understanding and tolerance of OUR differences and stand up against hate.  It is our diversity that makes the UMC strong and vital.  Infighting weakens and hurts all of us.

This is one of two stoles honoring Steven Olofson.  The second one was donated by Vetesk Ardis Chapman (stole #630).  Steven's own stole features the word "PEACE" in bold letters.  The last lines of his story contain a prayer for all United Methodists:

Please work toward peace, understanding and tolerance of OUR differences and stand up against hate.  It is our diversity that makes the UMC strong and vital.  Infighting weakens and hurts all of us.

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