Site visits to
The Metropolitan Church in San Francisco

and
The pagan celebration of Samhain in San Francisco

1. Address of the experience? I visited the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, located at 150 Eureka Street in San Francisco. I attended about 45 minutes of the Sunday Community Worship. I arrived 15 minutes into the service. There was an Castro Street Fair in the area and the intersection of Castro and Market was shut down. Once in the area, the closest parking I could find was 8 blocks away.

2. What did you learn that you didn't know before? I learned that once I got beyond the shock (disgust?) of the same-sex coupling, the service was very traditional. Except for a reference to a Sunday School class entitled "The Bible and Homosexuality", the bulletin appeared to be mainstream Protestant.

Of course the openly homosexual affection was a big thing to overcome. You may ask me, "Other than the fact that the church is Gay/Lesbian, what did you think of the service?" I would consider that question in league with this famous one: "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"

3. How were you treated? I was treated OK. I kept a low profile. I smiled and shook hands with one person going in and with a few people going out. I picked up some literature as I left.

4. How did you feel as a minority in this experience? I felt very awkward. I tried not to make my unease show. If someone would have studied my face, they probably would have picked up on my discomfort. This Sunday (October 7) was dubbed "World Communion Sunday"? I chose not participate in the bread and the wine. This did not make me feel good. This was a personal statement of mine that I was not in communion with this group. I'm not sure if I did the right thing. I definitely felt like an outsider.

5. What aspect of the different culture did you like\dislike? (be elaborate and specific) I did like some things. The singing was good. The attire was casual, except for the clergy who wore white robes. The short message delivered by Rev. G. Penny Nixon wasn't half bad. The church liturgy and tradition seemed to be Presbyterian. There was a full partnership of men and women. That I liked. I did not see any racial minorities, any children, or anyone over 70 years old.

I disliked the entire premise of this church: that sexual practice can be the basis of a church, that homosexual sex is the moral equivalent of heterosexual sex, and that homosexual bonds are the equivalent of marriage between a man and a woman. This premise is anathema to me that I had trouble focusing on other features of the service.

Oddly, this was similar to an experience that I had with my son's hip-hop music. Simon asked me to "just listen to the music" and not be obsessed with the repeated use of 4-letter words. He's my son and I obliged him, but I found his request impossible to carry out. Just as I could not listen past the obscene words of his hip-hop, neither could I look past the homosexual affection exhibited in the church.

6. How were female/male relations situated (especially ministry leadership roles?) The senior pastor was a woman (G. Penny Nixon) as was an assistant pastor (Colette Jackson). Of course the particular relations between female and female and between male and male is what makes this church different from others that I have attended.

7. What "cues" were made obvious as to the meanings of certain behaviors, symbols, rituals, etc.? In outer appearance this was a mainline Protestant service. I followed the order of worship easily.

8. How much were you able to learn from your visit that would help you become an "insider"? I'm not sure if I could become an insider. By just hanging around with homosexuals I would probably become more comfortable in their presence. I can't yet decide if my discomfort was due to an alien spirit or an alien culture.

9. Were others there who were from your cultural group? This I don't know. My guess is that nearly all were homosexual. There may have been a heterosexual guest or two who fully endorse the homosexual agenda. I was, no doubt, the only "unreconstructed homophobe".

10. Did you feel welcomed? I arrived too late for any "grip and grin" time. The people were not unfriendly. They were enjoying themselves and were getting into the service. I came late, sat in the back, and left at exactly the close. I did not pause.

11. What could they have done to "ease" you into a better understanding of what they were doing? I understood most of what went on. The church bulletin was excellent. I don't think the church could have done any thing to make me feel at ease. The men kissing men and the women squeezing women were disconcerting and distracting to me.

12. In what areas of your own ministry culture could you improve multi cultural sensitivity and awareness having now been in a setting where you are a minority? I think that the bulletin was very good. I couldn't immediately put my hands on any material that dealt with "homosexuality an the Bible". If I ever see a person in the back of my church who is dazed and confused, I won't take it personally.

I am still working through my theology concerning homosexuality. This multicultural ministry class has not shed much light. Neither text addressed homosexuality as a minority. I would like to see one position paper that insists homosexuality is within the acceptable range of church diversity, and another position paper that puts homosexuality outside the limits of church diversity. This is a partially veiled criticism of the course.

I have recently received a clue from Dr. Martin Luther King. In what may be the most famous passage of his most famous speech, King states "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." King provides a template for determining the limits of diversity. As he rightly points out, we may not judge people by the color of their skin (or by similar characteristics). We may judge people by the content of their character. The question then becomes, "Is homosexuality more like the color of one's skin, or more the content of one's character?" This is not an easy question to answer. Sexual orientation may be like skin color. Sexual preference may also be like skin color. But consensual homosexual behavior is an act of will, and must therefore reflect upon character. We may not be responsible for our orientation, be we must be responsible for our behavior.

1. Address of the experience? I visited a celebration of the pagan holiday of Samhain (Halloween) at Fort Mason in the Herbst Pavilion on Saturday evening, October 27th. I arrived just before the doors opened at 7:00 PM. I purchased a ticket for $16 and then stood in line. The people in line ran the gamut from full costume to casual attire. Many sported devil horns and black robes. Most had sleeping bags or mats. I knew that they were planning a long evening.

2. What did you learn that you didn't know before? I wasn't sure what to expect. I tried to be detached and take an anthropologist's approach. I learned that this new religion of "Wicca" or "pagan", or "the goddess consciousness" is an odd cocktail of beliefs that seems to have attracted many followers. I saw elements of witchcraft (wicca), goddess worship, environmentalism, gothic costume, Satanism, paganism, traditional Halloween, shamanism, and feminist theology. Two Pagan altars were open for view between 7 and 8 PM. These were mostly devoted to remembrances of dead family members. The main event was a "Goddess Whirl" in which women dressed in white robes danced for about an hour. I did not stay much past that, since most of the event beyond the dance was talk, fellowship, and partying.

3. How were you treated? I was treated OK. I kept a low profile. Somebody on stilts was tossing out free candy. I picked some off the floor. I think that counts as being treated well.

4. How did you feel as a minority in this experience? I felt very awkward. At times it broke my heart as I realized that many of these "devil worshipers" were former Christians. I felt especially bad for the children dressed in black.

5. What aspect of the different culture did you like\dislike? (be elaborate and specific) I did like some things. They seemed to be having fun. Christian churches could incorporate more fun in our worship. Also, just dressing up in costume is fun. Why not do more of that a few times a year, especially for kids. Of course, most of the activities were designed to be as un-Christian as possible. It's as if the Wiccans want to blot out 2000 years of Christianity and combine ancient paganism with new age feminism.

6. How were female/male relations situated (especially ministry leadership roles?) This Wicca movement is mostly lead by women. Wiccan goddess appears to be the end point of feminist Christian thealogians when they teeter over the edge of faith and fall into apostasy. I spotted five or six cars in the lot that sported the bumper sticker "The Goddess is alive and magic is afoot."

7. What "cues" were made obvious as to the meanings of certain behaviors, symbols, rituals, etc.? This was difficult to tell. The whole Wicca thing is such an amalgam of ad hoc activity. There was mostly a party atmosphere. No drugs or alcohol was allowed and there were lots of kids and twenty-somethings.

8. How much were you able to learn from your visit that would help you become an "insider"? I'm not sure if I could become an insider. Horn would not fit well on my head.

9. Were others there who were from your cultural group? This I don't know. Maybe I spotted some partners of participants who appeared not to be enjoying themselves. I did not see any other 'anthropologists" like myself.

10. Did you feel welcomed? No, I did not feel welcomed. I went alone. I did not strike up a conversation. Maybe I was a bit shell shocked by the pagan display. These guys take Halloween and partying seriously.

11. What could they have done to "ease" you into a better understanding of what they were doing? I understood most of what went on. I received a brochure for the price of admittance. I also looked at the web site before attending. Maybe someone could have explained the dance, but I think that the dance was one of those post modern art pieces where the significance is in the eye of the viewer.

12. In what areas of your own ministry culture could you improve multi cultural sensitivity and awareness having now been in a setting where you are a minority? I'm sure that I would monitor people better and try to find those who are truly beginners to Christianity. I would try to answer any questions they might have.

End comment: These two visits were a contrast in styles. The Metropolitan Church tried its best to appear "normal" and mainline Christian. The service was 99% Presbyterian with only a hint as to its underlying reason for being. The pagan celebration by contrast went out of its way to be anti-Christian, using anti-Christ symbols and figures. At times it just appeared to be goofy.