In 1994, when the Rev. Katrina D. Foster became pastor of Fordham Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, she threw herself into ministering to her small, mostly Caribbean-born congregation. She not only preached to them on Sundays but lived in the neighborhood and showed up to support them in everything from surgeries to legal matters.
But Pastor Foster was keeping a secret from her congregation. She held onto it even after a woman came to live with her in the parsonage, then joined the church choir.
“Some people would say, ‘It’s so nice you have someone to live with you in that 11-room house,’ ” said Pastor Foster, 39.
But in 2002, when the woman, Pamela Kallimanis, became pregnant, they knew the time had come. So Pastor Foster sat her congregants down one by one and told them that she and Ms. Kallimanis were partners and were expecting a child.
[To continue reading, go here.]
3 comments:
You know what pisses me off about that situation? That the National Church, when faced with these 81 folks who said, "Hi, I'm gay and you ordained me, how you doin'?" told them, "Oh, we're going to make you have to worry another four years about whether or not we're kicking you out, about whether or not your children are going to be without health care or if you're going to lose your pension."
Grr. Makes me angry.
As a Lutheran, it breaks my heart that this is still an issue. The NYTimes article is a bit more sensationalist than necessary, but the problem is still there. For being true to herself, this person has put at risk her future in the church that she loves. Hopefully in 2009 justice will reign instead of fear and exclusion.
The other thing that annoys me is that her congregation thinks she is doing her job well.
NancyP
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