Showing Up

When Clergy Learn to Be Activists (Behind the Collar Series #35)

When I went away to seminary, I had particular notions about what the life of a priest was going to look like. First and foremost, I imagined my life bound up with Sunday Masses, pastoral visits to the hospital, and the administrative tasks of running a parish — proofing Sunday bulletins, chairing weeknight committee meetings, filling out diocesan paperwork, and the like. Being the extrovert I am, I also knew that I’d undoubtedly be engaged in what is nebulously termed, “outreach.” That broad category included efforts to increase visibility in the neighborhood to bring in new parish members, as well as ministry to those in need around hunger, homelessness, and social services.

In my first year after ordination, I worked with parishioners to put on a public exhibition of antique church vestments and hosted a booth at the local fall gay street festival, where I offered prayers and blessed plastic rosaries. Both were wonderful successes and got me out of the church building mixing with the community, which I loved. Yet …