San Francisco Examiner - December 8, 2004
Bill Picture, Staff Writer

Bill Cosby, poet Maya Angelou, actor and U.N. Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover and folk music legend Joan Baez are all scheduled to appear.

Over the last 40 years, Williams has transformed the once-conservative Methodist congregation based in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood into one that better reflects the diversity of San Francisco and includes believers of every class, color, sexual orientation and religion.

By eschewing what he perceived as religion's judgmental and, therefore, divisive nature in favor of a more accepting and inclusive path for spiritual growth, Williams created a place where The City's disenfranchised -- the gay community, addicts, sex workers and the destitute -- weren't just tolerated but welcomed.

In the 1960s, Williams launched Glide's Free Meals Program to feed The City's poor and homeless. At last count, Glide was serving more than 1 million meals each year.

Never one to fear change or controversy, Williams placed Glide at the center of two of The City's -- and the nation's -- hardest-hitting epidemics in the 1980s: crack cocaine and AIDS.

Glide's recovery program, established in 1986, continues to this day to provide substance abusers with the help they need to help themselves. The Glide Health Services HIV/AIDS Unit, established in 1989, is steadily fighting the fight against AIDS by providing at-risk individuals with free education, counseling and testing.

Glide's Sunday services, or "celebrations," which feature the 140-member Glide Ensemble, have become a must-see experience for churchgoing locals and visitors alike. And the Glide congregation, now 10,000 strong, continues to grow while Methodist congregations elsewhere in the country are dwindling.

Highers-up from the United Methodist Church visited with Williams in 2000, hoping to increase membership by taking some of Williams' ideas back to their own communities, even though many of those ideas conflict with official Methodist doctrine. For instance, the United Methodist Church has adopted a kind of "don't ask, don't tell" policy for its members, banning the ordaining of gay ministers and the sanctioning of same-sex unions.

But Williams has always been a dear friend to The City's gay community, which thanked him for his support in 2003 when they named him grand marshal of S.F. Pride, one of the largest gay pride celebrations in the world.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, himself a gay member of the Glide congregation and just one of Williams' many fans over at City Hall, called the Reverend the "conscience of our city."

"Cecil represents the best of what we, as San Franciscans, can achieve," he added.

Mayor Gavin Newsom also commended Williams for reaching out to all people and embracing diversity, calling him a "respected leader on the forefront of social change."

"I congratulate the Rev. Cecil Williams for 40 years of outstanding leadership and community service," said Newsom, "and acknowledge his exceptional contributions to the City and County of San Francisco."

041208
SE041205

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2004. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .