Unitarian Church of Sharon
4 N. Main St.
Sharon, MA 02067

781-784-3652
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A Human Rainbow: Celebrating With All Our Friends and Neighbors

(Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.)

Wet weather didn’t dampen spirits on Sunday, May 16, as residents of Sharon and surrounding towns joined members of the Unitarian Church of Sharon at 11:30 a.m. for a joyful public celebration of same sex marriage. The party, originally planned for the front lawn after the morning worship service, instead was held in the church vestry due to rain. Outside, streamers flew from the building’s massive pillars, and a large rainbow flag stretched across the front of the church. A sign, hand made by children from the church school, asked in small letters, “Do you support the Freedom to Marry?” Echoing the Unitarian Universalist Association’s 30 year record of support for gay rights, the children answered their own question in huge, brightly colored letters that read, “WE DO!”

Inside, those attending the party enjoyed cake and coffee, face painting and dance music that had been planned by adult members of the church’s Welcoming Congregation Committee, a group that has worked for 18 months to educate the congregation about issues facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Members of the committee include Gare Reid and Jon Slavin of Sharon, and Janet Limke and Deborah Cayer of Norwood. The committee is preparing a question for the congregation’s Annual Meeting on June 11, asking members to vote to become an official “Welcoming Congregation,” that intentionally welcomes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their families to full participation in the life of the church. The congregation’s minister, Rev. Deborah Cayer, has performed services of holy union for same sex couples for several years and is now happy to be able to celebrate their marriages.

People were invited to arrive at church wearing a shirt in a bright color of the rainbow, a symbol widely recognized in the gay community as affirming the unique and inherent dignity of every person. Among attendees were Selectman Norman Katz and Town Administrator, Ben Puritz.

At 11:45 the group made its way upstairs and stood together across the front of the Meetinghouse according the color of their shirts. Zuben Scott, a fifth grader from Norwood, offered a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on his violin. The congregation’s Choir Director, Jennifer Spencer, taught the group a lively South African Freedom song, “Freedom is Coming.”

Echoing the song, Rev. Deborah Cayer told the group, “Freedom is coming! We know it is!” She reminded the gathering that May 17 was also the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education, a historic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that declared that “separate is not equal.” She recalled that the church’s bell, made by Paul Revere, had always rung out in affirmation of the nation’s best ideals: freedom, justice and equality. And that the bell, rung at times of sorrow, also sounds out the great joy of couples who have just married.

The entire group read a responsive reading that affirmed the recent SJC decision upholding the right of gay and lesbian people to marry. The reading concluded with a unison affirmation, “Now, let this bell toll for the freedom and the civil rights of all people. Now, let this bell ring out the sound of our tremendous joy.” And the church’s bell once again was rung, this time in affirmation of the inherent worth and dignity of every person and the extension of civil rights through marriage. The day ended on a note of joy.

Interior photos © Ilan Fisher. Exterior photo © Lee Hammond, ImPulse Photography

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