Today was unscheduled, so I took a chance that turned out to be very interesting. There is a small church near Torrington that has left the PCUSA and has become a "non-denominational Community Church." I learned from the General Presbyter, Steve Shive, that the current pastor of this church is a Dartmouth grad, which struck me as a very unlikely possibility. Although I had not planned to meet with him, I thought I would give it a shot anyway. I did not have his phone number or address, so I just drove to the church, and luckily, his phone number was posted on the door. (It is a very small church in a very small place.) I phoned him, told him who I was and that I had been chaplain and Dean of the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth, and that I'd enjoy having a chat. He came right over, and we talked for two hours.
The Yoder Church
What is significant about this conversation is that it was exceedingly honest and earnest. The pastor's name is Michael Glatze, Dartmouth class of '97. Although few people here seem to know it, he has had a very public life first as a gay activist, and later, after a dramatic conversion, as a conservative Christian opponent of homosexuality. He is not a PCUSA minister, but he was the supply pastor at this small church when it voted to leave the PCUSA because of (among other issues) the denomination's positive stands on gay rights.
I did not know what to expect from Michael. What I found was a warm, caring individual who has firmly advocated a lot of contradictory positions in his life, and who is still trying to figure things out. His faith has grown, and is still growing. He is questioning all his dogmatisms, of which there have been many. It was a pleasure to speak with him.
This, is I realized, is an important part of my project. It is an important part of the story. A little church votes to leave the denomination, perhaps not even knowing that their pastor had been a strong advocate for gay rights. If they do not know it, it is not because Michael has been trying to hide his life. In fact, based on an article about him in the New York Times, a movie was recently made about his life, called I Am Michael, starring James Franco. It was shown this summer at the Sundance Festival. (The movie has not yet been released to theaters, but it has attracted a great deal of attention, including reviews in the New York Times and elsewhere.) I am sure that the story of Michael Glatze is not over. (Michael kindly gave me permission to write about our visit in this blog.)
Michael Glatze
Interesting piece, Richard. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you Richard for sharing this fascinating sojourn.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat does Michael think of the PCUSA's affirming positions on gay marriage and gay ordination? It would seem, based on the story below, that he might be strongly opposed
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/my-ex-gay-friend.html?_r=0
This is totally fascinating. A Dartmouth Grad, class of 1997, so now about 40 years olds, lives in rural Wyoming as a pastor at an ex-PCUSA church. He is a former gay activist and is now ex-gay and anti-GLBT about whom a NYT article has been written and a film made released at Sundance. It is almost breath-taking in how bizarre it sounds. I wonder if Michael chose to move to Wyoming to in effect escape his old life (and his 'former' sexuality) - in effect, sparsely populated Wyoming, hardly a place where (I assume) openly gay men would choose to live, is an ideal 'sanctuary' from the temptations of the urban United States.
ReplyDeleteMichael left the evangelical pastor life very abruptly. He drove to the east coast, then to the west. He lives in san Francisco, writes as harshly against evangelicals now (calling them heretics going to hell) under his new last name, Elliott. And once I wrote an article about him (skippingtothepiccolo.com) he vanished. Today I found this arrest record for a Michael Elliott who matches age, height, weight, hair and eye color. Of the five arrests, cruelty to a child in 2015 is the worst... http://www.caarrestpdfs.com/…/2811…/michael+dale+elliott.pdf
ReplyDelete