I grew up in Cambridge, MA, the oldest of three children. My mother was a woman of great faith and devotion who, unfortunately, died of breast cancer when I was 11 years old. My father insured my ongoing religious education by sending me to a Catholic girl’s school (Rosary Academy in Watertown, MA), something for which I will be eternally grateful. I went to a secular college (UMass/Amherst) and enrolled in pre-med, believing that I was meant to be a healer. Unfortunately I did most of my learning during those four years outside of the classroom and soon realized that pre-med was not the route for me. After graduating in ’68 with a BA in sociology, I worked for several years as a “social worker” in a state psychiatric hospital. In 1974 I went back to school and in ’76 received an MSW from Boston University School of Social Work. I did research at a V.A. hospital, social work in a home health agency and taught several courses at local community colleges before landing my “dream job” as an oncology social worker at a large teaching hospital in Boston.

In 1987 God moved me to Maine (that’s another lo-o-o-ng story) and began a private psychotherapy practice in Wells, ME. That was the same year I began a relationship with Janet, my life partner, who joined me in Holy Union in 1994. We have been here in Maine as caretakers of history, living in a 300 year old stagecoach tavern on a large piece of property which takes up a great deal of our time.

The best thing you can do is make sure you're doing YOUR work. We are all called to spread the message and mission of Jesus with our words and our deeds. As long as the members of this church are doing all they can to live the gospel message my work should be easy. As for MY work, I see my job as being available to the members of this church and especially to our clergy as we work together to care for God’s people.

The article below appeared in the York County Coast Star January 4, 2007 (p. 6)

  Catholic church opens where you'd least expect to find one

By Jim Kanak, Staff Writer

WELLS -- There's a lot of building and development along Route 1 in Wells these days, but few people may be aware that one of the newest tenants along the busy strip is a church. St. Francis of Assisi , an independent American Catholic Church of New England, opened its doors in the Wells Plaza West in early December. The church initially got started in 2003, celebrating its services in a makeshift sanctuary in a private home.

"I had started a faith-based community in 2003, at our house in Wells," said Bishop Rosemary Ananis, the church's pastor. "It was for people who didn't want to worship as a Roman Catholic. We have people who were raised in the Roman church and are no longer comfortable there. Others are people who are unchurched. They come with friends and find they like what's here."

Ananis said the congregation got started on July 4, 2003 . She was ordained a deacon in January, 2004 and as a priest in June of the same year. She's currently attending theological seminary and expects to earn her Masters degree in Divinity in 2008. Ananis was elected Bishop by a synod of clergy and lay people in June, 2006, one of three bishops in the American Catholic Church of New England organization.

St. Francis moved to its new quarters to accommodate its growth. "The community began to grow by word of mouth," Ananis said. "We started with four or five, then grew to 20. We outgrew the space at home. We had converted the second floor of our barn as a sanctuary.

"It's a delightful dilemma of having to rent space. We had to get serious about collections."

Ananis said the church will add seven more congregants in early January. "On Epiphany, we'll be affirming seven new people in the church," she said. "That will bring us close to 30 members."

Parishioners come from as far away as Richmond , Maine , and Conway , N.H. , Ananis said.

Ananis explained that there are similarities and differences between her church and Roman Catholicism. "We were the same liturgically, sacramentally, and dogmatically with the Roman Church until Vatican I," she said. "We respect and honor the pope, but are not under his jurisdiction. We operate synodally, with decisions made collectively by clergy and laity."

Vatican I was the church's council that declared the pope's infallibility. In response, a movement that opposed the designation, called the Old Catholic Church, emerged around 1870. St. Francis of Assisi and other ACC churches trace their lineage back to that movement.

But papal infallibility is not the only difference. "We ordain women [as priests] and allow clergy to be married," Ananis said. "We believe committed couples can practice birth control as a responsible way of living. We bless the marriages of same sex couples. Divorced people are allowed to have a second chance. All baptized persons are welcome."

The liturgy used in the mass is quite similar to that used in the Roman church, but there are also some differences. "We start to change just after the homily," said Ananis. "I'll give just a brief reflection, and then everyone gets to comment on the readings. We have a conversation that can go on for an hour. That's what people really like. It's about making it relevant."

After the homily, Ananis said the service moves into the prayers of the faithful, in which congregants read from a list of common prayers as well as adding prayers of their own. "It's much, much more intimate," she said.

The Eucharistic prayer, or consecration, also is different, Ananis said. "It's interactive also," she explained. "We have responsive phrases. Everyone participates in saying the words of consecration."

Besides the mass, St. Francis of Assisi offers a wealth of other church activities. "We have a growing children's ministry," said Ananis. "We offer bible study. We have socials, like our spiritual cinema nights."

Ananis highlighted an annual kids' camp St. Francis has every Labor Day weekend as part of the children's ministry. They also have kids' events that correspond with each liturgical season. "That's where we do our education for the kids," Ananis said.

Ananis said the church was active in doing visits to homebound people and outreach to the homeless. "I visited a homebound community in Sanford ," said Ananis. "There was a man living there with lung cancer, a woman, and his mother. I married the man and the woman two weeks before he died. We had a faith community there for almost a year.

"We've also done an outreach ministry with the York County Homeless Shelter for three years. We keep them stocked with diapers with funds collected from a Quarters for Diapers' jar in the church. We've also bought presents at Christmas for homeless families."

The church draws on the talents of its parishioners. Renovations to the new space in the plaza are being done by members of the church, for example, and congregants have helped with other church equipment. "Our tabernacle was made by a parishioner," said Ananis. "And our processional cross was mounted on its pole by another."

Ananis said everyone was thrilled with the new venue. "We're pretty excited about being here," she said. "Until now, we didn't have the facility to handle more crowds. Please God, it keeps going."

Sunday Mass is at 9 a.m. For information, go to the church's website at www.stfranciswellsme.org.

jkanak@seacoastonline.com

It is hardly a secret to say that gay and Catholic is a combination of words that spell trouble, regardless of your point of view. For gay Catholics it means years of recovery from spiritual toxicity. Some burrow deeper into suffocating closets. Others come out screaming. And some, after considerable struggle, learn to separate the main entree from the upsetting side dishes that come with the Roman Catholic menu.. On top of all that, LGBT Catholics face the understandably hostile attitude of the larger LGBTQ community to Christianity in general and Roman Catholicism in particular. As a good friend of mine was fond of saying, 'I don't know which is harder, coming out as a gay man to my fellow priests, or coming out as a priest to other gay men." Where can you find a place that you can call it your spiritual home if you are Queer and Catholic? One thing is clear, and that is LGBTQ Catholics need a supportive community, one that both encourages their faith and affirms their wholeness and worth as God given gender variant people. There are some Roman Catholic parishes which provide quiet support. Very few, however, that can openly affirm Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender or Gender Queer persons without risk of censure from the hierarchy for departing from the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

All this the readers know. However, what many do not know is that there actually is a Catholic alternative, one that began in Europe 100 years before Vatican II in the 1960's. This earlier progressive movement to which I refer was known as the 'Old Catholic Church' which began first in Holland, then Germany, Switzerland and spread to other European countries. Eventually it arrived in England, and from there came to the United States brought by bishops who were consecrated in direct line by those original dissenting bishops who had been excommunicated for not submitting to the new doctrine of Papal Infallibility. Incidentally, the name 'Old Catholic' is not a reference to some form of rigid orthodoxy and hierarchical control. Just the reverse is true. From the very beginning Old Catholic bishops included lay persons with equal voice and vote in their deliberations. The word 'Old' refers to the way things were in the earlier centuries when there was less centralization of authority in Rome and more diversity in belief, liturgy and practice than came to be the case as the popes centralized power in Rome and in the papal office.

So what does the Old Catholic movement have to offer modern day LGBT/Q Catholics? It offers a much needed spiritual community in which Rainbow Catholics may grow in their faith and not leave behind the rich sacramental life which formed their spirituality.

Which brings us to the point of this article, the Old Catholic movement is now in Vermont, being represented by the American Catholic Church of New England. The author of this article is a priest in this Church, a transsexual female, and an out and activist member of the Burlington Queer community. Living proof, I should say, that there is indeed an affirming Catholic alternative for queer people.

It is not the intent of the American Catholic Church to encourage LGBTQ Roman Catholics to abandon their parish churches. If they have found a way to live within their faith community we support their decision to do so. Our ministry is to the marginalized as we tell people over and over. We reach out to those who do not have a place where they feel welcome and accepted for who they are, be they straight or gay. We invite all in need of the Eucharist to come share what God has provided and receive the life and power of Christ in the sacrament for their healing and strength. All means all. The American Catholic Church is composed of straight and gay people. There are heterosexual married priests, ordained women, divorced and remarried persons, in short, none of the usual barriers are put between those called of God to share the sacramental life and their access to these means of grace. We use inclusive language, make decisions by consensus or democratic voting. Bishops are elected, not appointed by a pope. For Catholics looking for a place to go that feels like home, but does not spiritually abuse you when you go, the American Catholic Church provides what you are looking for. We are a small denomination with worker priests who receive no salary. We meet in homes, hospital chapels, rent space from other churches. We travel light. Our mission is to those on the edge with no place to go and no one to welcome them.

If you are one of those persons, or are just curious to see what progressive Roman Catholicism might look and feel like in a few more centuries feel free to to come and check us out.

Most Rev. Stephen Edward Burke, MGC, Bishop Emeritus

Most Rev. Michael J. Scalzi
The Faith Community of Saint Joseph
2804 Market Street, Suite 2
Camp Hill, PA 17011
Phone: (717) 737-5520
Email: accnemjs@comcast.net

Most Rev. Rosemary Ananis
St. Francis of Assisi Faith Community
1107 Littlefield Road
Wells, ME 04090
Phone: (207) 646-2820
Email: rananis@maine.rr.com