A little history of Pastor Tom
Born Catholic in Wilmington, Delaware, he
went to college there, studying Political Science. He took a trip to Geneva in
his last year and found that being a diplomat wasn’t going to jive with
his newly outed lifestyle; the field was not conducive to honesty. (Being
closeted in the international diplomacy community was then de rigueur.)
A little history of Pastor
Tom
Born Catholic in Wilmington,
Delaware, he went to college there, studying Political Science. He took a trip
to Geneva in his last year and found that being a diplomat wasn’t going to
jive with his newly outed lifestyle; the field was not conducive to honesty.
(Being closeted in the international diplomacy community was then de rigueur.)
So he came back to the States,
settling in Southern California, looking for a more accepting profession, and
worked various jobs: managing a fast food restaurant, being a telephone
operator, installing cable systems, and owning a travel agency in Silverlake.
While mourning his true love's death
from AIDS, he was called upon to make a two-minute speech about accepting gays
into the ministry and while writing it, he had a spiritual epiphany. An honored
colleague heard his brief rant and recommended that Tom get himself to a
seminary. So he did, and found his proclivities leaning Methodist, the more
liberal of the protestants. After graduating, he headed up a parish in Palm
Springs, expanded the congregation considerably there, and then was invited to
administer to the Venice parish.
“I’m a pastor of Venice,
not just pastor of this church,” he tells me in a manner of confidence.
And it’s true, he’s bringing in musicians, like the brilliant Alfred
Johnson, pianist/songwriter, and Peter Ludwig, tone-cellist. Also appearing are
poets, like the dynamic Carmen Vega, and speakers, like Ched Meyers, an expert
on the Marshall Island bombings, and other secular artists to help make the
services come alive, and make the reasons to come “worship”
irresistible.
“The founding
principle of the United States,” expresses Tom,”was that there were
to be three major players: government, business and church. (We’ve since
added unions.) The role of church was to be the conscience of the other two. Not
to be in bed with them, but to show if there was something wrong with any moral
connections. It’s supposed to be a sort of counter-intelligence.
That’s what I’m trying to bring back.” Bring it on, Tom, bring
it back. And "blessings."
Posted: Mon - March 1, 2004 at 05:33 PM