By Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

With Sunday, June 1 marking the start of Pride Month, the Rev. Jessie Turnier, rector of Claremont’s St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, called on an old friend, John Brett, to help deliver a unique 9 a.m. service dubbed “drag Eucharist.”

Brett, a chaplain and vicar with the San Francisco Night Ministry, introduced himself to St. Ambrose parishioners in his drag persona, Bene Diction.

“In addition to walking the streets at night in the Tenderloin and other densely populated parts of [San Francisco], listening and providing care and crisis intervention for our neighbors in the streets, I also engage with folks in the nightlife industry and the queer community,” Brett told the Courier. “I have been working as a chaplain for 10 years and I found my way to the night ministry in San Francisco through seminary in Berkeley.”

As parishioners made their way in, a volunteer distributed pride flags. LGBTQ+ dedications were made during the intention portion of the service, and as Turnier read aloud the Gospel, Brett read aloud a parallel story by Jay Hulme titled “Jesus at the Gay Bar.”

Afterward, Brett led the homily and spent time explaining his work. He preached three messages: that we should accept our neighbors, accept those different than us, and understand it’s up to each individual to accept God.

“I thought his message was very appropriate for the day,” said Ruth Godfrey, an 81-year-old St. Ambrose parishioner.

(L-R) John Brett, chaplain and vicar with San Francisco Night Ministry, seen here in his drag persona, Bene Diction, and the Rev. Jessie Turnier lead Pride Sunday services at Claremont’s St. Ambrose Episcopal Church. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Elizabeth McGarry, 60, and Bob Connolly, 54, were visiting St. Ambrose for the first time.

“I was amazed,” McGarry said, describing Brett’s sermon as incredibly moving, powerful, and authentic. “I felt very blessed to be part of it.”

Connolly said Brett’s sermon was a “really unifying message, and one that resonated deeply with me. You know, unfortunately sometimes you don’t always hear that in the church or a religious event, and it was a very open and embracing experience for me.”

St. Ambrose has long observed the first Sunday of Pride Month, known as Pride Sunday, Turnier said.

“We celebrate Pride Sunday every year to communicate an explicit celebration and inclusion of everyone,” Turnier said. “Of course, all year we’re inclusive and celebrate, but today is the day that we explicitly do it. This is the first time though that we have had somebody in drag as part of the service.”

(L-R) Lillith Edeson, youth vestry member at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, and parishioner Donna Clarke at Sunday’s “drag Eucharist.” Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Some members of the church’s faithful resistance roundtable took issue with having a drag performer at Sunday’s liturgy.

“Not everybody was happy that it was happening,” Turnier said. Issues brought forth included “literal interpretations of scripture,” with some saying, “there’s only one expression of male and female,” and “that anyone outside of a heterosexual expression of sexuality was outside of God’s will.”

“That’s put a lot nicer than how they said,” Turnier added.

Still, Sunday’s service and drag performance proceeded with no opposition, and Turnier and Brett deemed it a success.

“I think people are thrilled with it,” Turnier said. “They love it. I mean, how many times you get to dance at a church?”

Brett said Pride Sunday is an important service for communities of all sizes.

“Regardless of how open or accepting a community might be more broadly, there are still all sorts of individual households where children, young people, even adults cannot live into their whole lives. They cannot be themselves without fear of rejection or abuse or violence,” Brett said. “And so, it’s important for churches everywhere, even in places like San Francisco that people think are accepting, to provide an explicit witness, an explicit welcome … because there are so many people that even today still need it.”