Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - December 23, 2005
Greg Marzullo
"For any minority, there is power in being able to come together where you get the sense of not being alone," says Rev. Stephanie Burns, the lesbian senior pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Fredericksburg, Md. The two-year-old Fredericksburg congregation is part of the predominantly gay international Metropolitan Community Church that was founded in 1968 by Rev. Troy Perry.
"For some people, it's very important to be able to go on a faith journey instead of always having to explain your story," Burns says. "You're with people who have shared your story."
Like Christians around the world, gay Christians will be in full celebratory swing starting Saturday, Dec. 24. Burns' congregation will have a Christmas Eve service that begins with the singing of traditional Christmas carols. After telling the story of Christ's birth by reading from selections of the Christian gospels Matthew and Luke, the service will conclude by lighting candles and singing "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World."
The Catholic Church is well known for its holiday pageantry, especially in Rome, but Dignity Washington, the local chapter of the national organization for gay Catholics, will be conducting a simple yet important ceremony.
"It will be special in terms of music and decorations," says Stephen McConnell, gay president of the board of directors for Dignity Washington. McConnell is an ordained priest on a leave of absence, meaning he is not actively working under a bishop. He and five other priests rotate leading the services at Dignity.
McConnell says the congregation is usually about 200 strong, but the Christmas Day mass will be a somewhat smaller affair given that many people will be out of town.
CHRISTMAS IS NOT the only holiday to celebrate this time of year. Chanukah is a joyful Jewish holiday and, for the first time in decades, begins on Christmas Day.
Chanukah is the eight-day-long festival of lights that honors the eventual victory of the Jews over the invading ancient Greeks. After routing the invaders, the Jews returned to the Temple in Jerusalem to find many holy objects destroyed. The people wanted to light the great menorah, an eight-branched candelabra, but they only found enough oil to keep it lit for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days, and during that time, the Jews were able to find more oil.
"Chanukah in the U.S. is very Christmas-like," says Milton Stern, president of D.C.'s gay Jewish congregation Bet Mishpachah. "In Europe and Israel, the children go around and collect money for charity. In the U.S., it's a whole different holiday."
Children usually receive gifts on the eight nights of the festival, including traditional gifts of chocolate coins and dreidels. Bet Mishpachah holds its congregational Chanukah potluck party at the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center on Dec. 28. The party includes the "useless gift" exchange. Partiers are encouraged to bring a gift that someone gave to them and they never used. Once wrapped, no one knows where it came from, and perhaps people can get something they want during the exchange.
"Your partner does not count as a useless gift," Stern jokes.
On Dec. 30, Bet Mishpachah celebrants will bring their menorahs to a special candle-lighting service also held at the D.C. Jewish Community Center.
Kwanzaa, celebrated from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1, is the African-American and Pan-African holiday created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor in the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Focusing on family, community and culture, the holiday celebrates and reaffirms the "seven principles" of Pan-African life: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., an HIV/AIDS prevention and support organization focusing on black gay and bisexual men, and the D.C. Coalition, an organization for the city's gay African Americans, will host a Kwanzaa celebration on Dec. 30. No one contacted for details responded to the Blade by press time.
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