S h e i l a   and   C h r i s t i n e

Sheila and I had been attending All Saints Church for several years before we had our blessing ceremony. We had been "married" in an underground Roman Catholic ceremony in a friend's home on May 14, 1982. The priest who blessed our union would not allow a communion service, but we were grateful that he would at least bless our lives together. I was pregnant with our first child at the time. Patrick is now 17 years old and our second son, Robert, is now 14.

When All Saints Church performed it's first same sex union for Phil Straw and Mark Benson we were so excited. We were excited that gays and lesbians would be allowed to "marry" in their church with family, friends and the church community surrounding them in their commitment for one another. So we became the first lesbians to have our union blessed at All Saints Church.

I am forever grateful to All Saints for opening its life to all gays and lesbians and for having the courage to perform these same sex unions for gay and lesbian couples. It is so important to be able to publicly state your intentions and love for one another in the church before God and the whole church community. I am, by virtue of my baptism, a full member of Christ's church. Hopefully the work of Beyond Inclusion will give other Episcopal churches the courage to perform same sex unions in their parishes.

Christine and Sheila had their union blessed at All Saints Church, Pasadena on May 23, 1992. They have been together 27 years.

updated 17 March 2003, webmaster