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Christ Episcopal Church, Belleville, New Jersey Christ Episcopal (Anglican) Church of Belleville is an inclusive-community parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. Located between Joralemon and Essex Streets on Washington Avenue in Belleville, the parish is one of the oldest in the Diocese, being founded through a land grant from King George in 1746. The parish, once a vital and healthy one, had fallen into a twenty-year downward spiral until the early spring of 1999 when it’s new Vicar and his family took up residence in the Vicarage.
July 7th, 2001 Summer Fair and Flea Market, with parishioner Tom Berry That new family was somewhat unusual in the area because it included not only their new Vicar, The Rev'd Paul Walker, but also his partner Randy Lee Webster. The combination of diverse and dynamic creative resources of these two men has caused the catalyst spark that started the spiral to reverse its direction. The parish has become one that is truly inclusive of everyone, not only of sexual orientation, but also of ethnicity. Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians, both heterosexuals and homosexuals of all age groups meet every Sunday morning at ten o'clock to worship together in a style that is both Anglo-Catholic and inclusive. At
the heart of this congregation is the "first family" of Paul and Randy, together
with their children, a twenty-seven year old gay son Paul and a twenty-three
year old daughter Heather, together with their two dogs, five cats and two
birds. The first half of the pair is The Rev'd Paul Walker. Paul was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and raised as a Roman Catholic. It was there that he married his wife and they began their family while he completed two degrees at Marywood College (now University). Paul transferred to the Episcopal Church and began his pursuit of Holy Orders. The family moved to Rochester so that he might earn a Master of Divinity degree at Bexley Hall, the Episcopal Seminary there. Paul was ordained a Deacon when he was called to a parish in Worster, Mass.; it was there he was ordained a Priest. Shortly he was called to become the Rector of Grace Church in Scottsville, New York and St. Andrew's in Caledonia, New York, both rural suburbs of Rochester. During his eleven years there Paul played important roles in the Diocese of Rochester, but some of his more important roles were those helping to lead to the incorporation of The Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS, and the AIDS Remembrance Garden. The Rochester Area Task Force on AIDS (RATFA) was a nine country Ryan White consortium begun as the central clearinghouse for services to persons with HIV/AIDS. The program was begun in the mid-1980's, and Paul served as its first President for four years. The AIDS Remembrance Garden was begun in 1993, the first of its kind to be developed from the ground up; Paul was one of the co-founders. Taking its place in historic Highland Park, the two-acre garden is a living gift to the community and a honorium to those who have been impacted by the AIDS pandemic, a project born out of a need expressed by families to remember the lives of those they loved and a need to celebrate the strength of the human spirit. The Remembrance Garden was begun through the Greater Rochester AIDS Interfaith Network, Inc. (GRAIN), which Paul co-founded.
Randy agreed to substitute for a colleague in the program who was then organist at Paul's parish; that service introduced the two men to each other, and they began a relationship that is now almost eight years old. Paul and Randy were formally united in a Service of Solemn Vows in Covenant in the spring of 1999, certainly one of the largest such functions in the Dioceses, having over 250 honored guests in attendance.
Support Groups: A/A Monday thru Saturday 7:AM Monday 7:30 PM Thursday 7:30 PM AL-ANON Thursday 8:30 PM SL AA (Sex/Lour Addict ANN) Meet twice weekly – Call for information Gay, Lesbian and Friends First Monday each Month 7:00 PM Community Outreach Programs – The Care Closet Monday Each month 3:PM Martha & Mary’s Soup Kitchen Saturday @ Noon INK “Investing-N-Kids” – Run in conjunction with Belleville Community Police Unit – runs a variety of “Safe” events for area youth including: Haunted House, Interactive Santa Workshop, Spring Dance, National Night Out, Block Party, and more. IHN “Interfaith Hospitality Network” At different times during the year we provide housing for families in transition. This program assists clients to develop their recourses , resumes, complete a job search and to become re-established in family housing We are delighted to have the opportunity to introduce you to The Rev’d. Paul Walker and his life partner, Randy Lee Webster. We are proud of their life work, their commitment to each other and their personal claim to America’s Promise of Liberty and Justice for ALL, -- and that includes their rights to the full benefits of Civil Marriage.
Contact: The Rev’d. Paul E. Walker 393 Washington Ave., Belleville, NJ 07109 973 751-0616 (By: www.gaypasg.org) |
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The
other half is Randy Lee Webster. Educated initially in his native Iowa, Randy
came to Rochester to attend Bexley Hall, the Episcopal seminary in Rochester, to
seek a Master of Divinity degree in Pastoral Music. That degree, a combination
of the core requirements for all Master of
Divinity degrees at the seminary and a music education at the famous Eastman
Conservatory, was new and certainly unique; Randy was one of the first to
graduate from the program, exactly ten years
after Paul had graduated from the same seminary. 
Paul
was called as the Vicar of Christ Church in Belleville in the late winter of
1999, following a three year search for a Diocese and a parish that would be
supportive to an "out" gay couple. This new "marriage" of ministry team and
parish has been a good one for everyone. The parish has more than doubled its
attendance in just over two years, and they are beginning a five-year plan of
vision called "The Tulip Project", so called because the parish is beginning to
experience the first signs of a renewed springtime after a long winter. Paul
and Randy are both also active in the life of the community of Belleville and
the Diocese of Newark. Paul is currently the President of The Belleville
Chamber of Commerce and serves as the Assistant Secretary of the Rotary Chapter
there. Together they work closely with the Belleville Community Police Unit to
provide activities for children in the area through the "Investing -N- Kids"
(INK) Program. They both also serve in the Diocese of Newark on both District
and Diocesan levels. Paul serves on the Diocesan Council and the Board of the
Ward J. Herbert Fund; Randy serves on the Diocesan Standing Committee on Liturgy
and Music and will begin the "Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small
Parishes" Program in the Diocese in the fall of 2002.
The
parish is creating many new venues for ministry that reach out beyond its self
to the members of the community around it. For example, The Care Closet gifts
about 150 families every month with bags of paper and personal hygiene items to
those on Family First Cards, and they founded and host Mary and Martha's
Kitchen, a soup kitchen for persons in need in the area. One of the first new
ministries to be
Established
programs of the church include the following: