Audio Interview, Bruce Hanson, February 19, 2012

  • EVELYN BAILEY: So I'm here with Reverend Bruce Hanson
  • in his home in St. Augustine.
  • And we're looking back at the early history of the formation
  • of Dignity-Integrity Rochester.
  • And I'm going to let Bruce tell the story.
  • REVEREND BRUCE HANSON: Thank you.
  • (laughs) I'll give it a try to that, OK?
  • I am Father Bruce, and I was the rector of St. Luke's Church.
  • OK, this is Father Bruce, the rector
  • of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Rochester,
  • New York from 1973 to 1980.
  • St. Luke's is Rochester's oldest church.
  • It was built by Colonel Rochester, who
  • founded the city of Rochester and some of the mills
  • along the river.
  • Now, Father Bruce--
  • St. Luke's Church then merged with St. Simon Cyrene,
  • Rochester's African American congregation
  • in the Episcopal church and they merged.
  • In the early spring of 1975, Father Bruce met with Father
  • Szymanski, a curate at St. Thomas church,
  • to discuss the use of an office in a downtown building--
  • namely, St. Luke's Church--
  • St. Thomas church being at the southeastern edge of the city
  • with no public transportation on weekends.
  • So Father Szymanski had started a meeting of gay men
  • on Sunday afternoon.
  • But attendance was wild and indifferent.
  • Because the only way to attend anything at St. Thomas church
  • was governed by carpools because of no public buses
  • or anything of that sort.
  • This varied attendance did not really form a solid group,
  • nor could anyone seeking counsel reach Farther Symansky
  • if he were at St. Thomas Church.
  • The location of St. Thomas Church
  • was discouraging to those seeking a church gathering
  • place.
  • At this time, the only gathering of gay Christian men
  • was a small meeting of Roman Catholics in the church
  • behind Kodak Tower.
  • Kodak needed some more parking space for its members
  • and arranged the destruction of the Roman Catholic
  • church next to Kodak.
  • The Catholic gay group needed to find a place to meet,
  • since the church was only the Roman Catholic
  • church that accepted them.
  • After discussion with Father Szymanski,
  • Father Hanson consulted with the lay leaders, the wardens,
  • who enthusiastically approved Father Szymanski's
  • use of a vacant office, but more, they
  • approved a late Sunday afternoon meeting of the Roman Catholic
  • group and the St. Thomas group.
  • The church warden gave permission
  • to use the worship space and the parish hall
  • for a social gathering following the service.
  • By late spring, Father Szymanski had gathered the two groups
  • together for worship and socialization.
  • Socialization was easily arranged.
  • But worship was a bit more difficult,
  • until the group had experienced both the Roman Catholic
  • and the Episcopal liturgies and found
  • them to be almost identical.
  • Then, surprise to everyone, both the Episcopal and Roman
  • Catholic bishops at the time gave their approval
  • of an alternate weekly plan.
  • The Roman Catholics would have the use of their liturgy
  • on the first and third Sundays of each month.
  • The Episcopal liturgy was used on the second and fourth.
  • In addition to approval of the use of the liturgies
  • in that way, the bishops also gave
  • approval of the pastor and Episcopal Roman Catholic
  • clergy to preach and celebrate the Eucharist.
  • This was usually done on a quarterly basis.
  • Organizational administration was quickly
  • organized as the group began to grow,
  • including women who had not been there at the beginning.
  • Father Szymanski and Father George Kakuzi were appointed
  • the clergy leadership, including Father Bruce, rector of St.
  • Luke's.
  • Father Bruce often served as organist
  • when the scheduled volunteer organist failed to show up.
  • For the first couple of years of Dignity-Integrity,
  • the group was joined by gay men and women
  • from the downtown Presbyterian church.
  • They were a larger gathering, badly
  • missed when they created their own gathering
  • for Protestant worship.
  • During the first couple of years,
  • St. Luke's congregation invited Dignity-Integrity
  • and the Presbyterians to celebrate with them
  • on Christmas Eve and Easter.
  • The nave and gallery were filled for all four
  • of the worship experiences.
  • The nave and gallery hadn't been filled since the 1940s.
  • But this was a major and special event
  • with gays and regular people all meeting
  • and worshipping together.
  • The big event of these gatherings
  • was the passing of the peace.
  • Straight and gay persons dashed through the nave
  • and the gallery to pass the peace.
  • It was sheer chaos.
  • Another thing that happened in these early days
  • was that Father Bruce approved and permitted
  • to happen in the church gay weddings, which
  • was a surprise to the community but supported by the church.
  • These were the first openly celebrated commitments
  • in Rochester.
  • As members became more comfortable being out
  • and accepted DI, these commitments
  • became more public celebrations.
  • Let's see.
  • One of the great events for Rochester
  • was the joining of Dignity and Integrity,
  • the first combined such organization
  • in the United States.
  • This merged group has successfully
  • found ways to work and play and worship together.