Festivals! Backpacks! Birthdays! Farewells! Picnic! The weekend of September 12 and 13, 2015 was very big at St. Thomas’ Parish. A seemingly record crowd joined us for a “welcome back” gathering after summer holidays and travel. Our Rector, Nancy Lee, returned after a well-deserved August vacation.

The 17th Street Festival on Saturday, September 12

St. Thomas’ had a wonderful booth at the 17th Street Festival for our second year! The 17th Street festival is a community event celebrating the 17th Street Corridor from Riggs Place to P Street. This has been a fantastic opportunity to be a visible presence in our neighborhood community.

The Festival took place on Saturday September 12 from 12:00-6:00pm. Volunteers served 2 hour shifts under the excellent direction of Catherine Manhardt.

Wow! Listen to the big choir!

We celebrated Adam Graham’s birthday with cake and song – and then with listening to our wonderfully expanded choir!

Blessing of the Backpacks

On September 13th, we kicked off our Children’s Ministry Fall Program with a blessing of backpacks — including diaper bags and briefcases!

We also collected back-to-school supplies for an extra special backpack that we’re donating to the Samaritan Ministry.

Welcome Back Picnic on Sunday, September 13

More than 100 celebrated our “welcome back” with a wonderful picnic – dancing, smashing a piñata, meeting new babies, seeing how much our young worshipers have grown, and enjoying the company of folks we may not have seen since summer began.

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The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson

St. Thomas’ Parish is privileged to be the home church of Bishop Gene Robinson, retired bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Gene generously shares is wealth of experience and spiritual wisdom with our Parish, and frequently preaches at our 11am service.

Bishop Robinson is famous internationally as a champion for human rights, and as the first priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination. He was elected bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire on June 7, 2003, having served as Canon to the Ordinary (assistant to the bishop) for nearly 18 years. He was consecrated a bishop on All Saints Sunday, November 2, 2003, and was invested as the Ninth Bishop of New Hampshire on March 7, 2004.

Gene Robinson was born in Fayette County, Kentucky. According to his biographer (Adams, 2006), Gene’s parents were poor tenant farmers who worked in the tobacco fields as sharecroppers. The family used an outhouse, drew water from a cistern, and did laundry in a cast-iron tub over an open flame. Their house did not have running water until Robinson was ten years old.

Robinson graduated from the University of the South in 1969 with a B.A. in American studies and history. In 1973 he completed the M.Div. degree at the General Theological Seminary in New York, and was ordained deacon and then priest, serving as curate at Christ Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey.

He is the co-author of three AIDS education curricula for youth and adults, and has done AIDS work in the United States and in Africa (Uganda and South Africa). He has also been an advocate for antiracism training in the diocese and wider church. Robinson helped build the Diocese of New Hampshire’s close working partnership with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, advocated for debt relief for the world’s most impoverished nations, and lobbied for socially responsible investment within and beyond the church.

He is a past member of the Board of the New Hampshire Endowment for Health, which works for access to health care for the uninsured, and he currently serves as a trustee of the Church Pension Fund. He holds two honorary doctorates and has received numerous awards from national civil rights organizations. His story is featured in the 2007 feature-length documentary, “For the Bible Tells Me So,” and his book In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God (Seabury Books, New York) was released in 2008.

Bishop Robinson has been particularly active in the area of full civil rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Working at the state, national, and international levels, he has spoken and lobbied for equal protection under the law and full civil marriage rights. He has been honored by many LGBT organizations for this work, including the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, GLAAD, and the Equality Forum.

Bishop Robinson was invited by Barack Obama to give the invocation at the opening inaugural ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial on January 18, 2009.

In 2012, he authored God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, and a feature-length documentary on Bishop Robinson’s ministry, “Love Free or Die,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival that same year.

Robinson enjoys entertaining and cooking, gardening, music, and theatre. He is the father of two grown daughters and the proud grandfather of two granddaughters.

Much of this biography references the Center for American Progress website – with thanks!