Bert All

In Memory of
THE REV. BERT ALL

California - Pacific Conference United Methodist Church

A gift from Ed Hansen, Pastor, Hollywood United Methodist Church, California

Bert was a creative and dedicated pastor who served local churches and as a leader in the Conference Camping Program.    For the Southern California region he founded the Strength for the Journey retreats for persons living with HIV/AIDS and continued to guide these retreats until his own failing health prevented him.  Because of his fear of losing his ordination status if he revealed that he was gay, Bert kept this part of his life very hidden.  Only his best friends knew this dimension of his life.  Along with other friends I am honored to dedicate this stole in Bert's memory.

This stole was given to us in advance of the 2000 General Conference of the UnitedMethodistChurch in Cleveland, OH.  Although he remained closeted throughout his career in the ministry, Bert allowed for the possibility to tell his story to the church following his death.  This 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