- Synced and corrected by chamallow - - www.addic7ed.com -
Walter! Hey, buddy!
- Oh! - Aww!
- Bye, Walter. - Bye, Walter, love you.
- Here's to Philly. - Yeah!
Cheers! Cheers!
It's a brand-new day, and we are gonna help a gorgeous Noah!
- Yay! - Like, Noah and the Ark, Noah?
Uh, yes! And interesting, like projecting, foreshadowing, ferosh!
"Noah is the head pastor
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Atonement
for the last five years."
I was pre-warned, which is why I wore my fireproof suit.
Wow! I'm gonna give a slow clap.
Oh, wow.
"He's nominated by members of the church council."
Fun!
There are a lot of personalities in our congregation.
What is that?
We were once called the quirkiest church in Fishtown.
I think it froze, too!
I think we've done a lot to earn that name.
I live right next door to the church
in a house owned by the church, with my two cats
Thor and Sateen.
- Does he have cats? - Oh, my gosh!
By virtue of who we are and how small our congregation is,
Noah's saddled with a lot more than pastoral responsibilities.
It's three o'clock in the morning,
Pastor Noah's over there mopping up the church floor!
Say what? I mean, who's doing that?
Noah's doing that.
Honey! "He's a late night eater... " Same!
"... who overindulges on cake."
Same! "Klondike bars."
Same. "And bacon." Same!
I might become the first lady of this church.
- Good morning. - Good morning, everyone.
Noah is an introvert.
I am single.
It can be a challenge to date as a pastor.
But also, I'm gay,
and I have struggled with my identity as a gay person.
Noah was brought up in a very homophobic,
fundamentalist, Baptist denomination.
I was taught that queer people were wrong
and probably going to hell.
In seminary, I met a woman,
a wonderful person, and I thought, "Oh, maybe this is it."
That I can have that kind of life that at the time I thought was
the only real, acceptable option.
One of the first two people I came out to was my wife.
After the divorce, I moved to Philadelphia,
to experience something different, a new chapter of life.
Finding a community like Atonement
to be able to serve, I feel really blessed,
but we're a struggling congregation.
If we have 30 in the pews on a Sunday,
that's a pretty decent Sunday for us.
Maybe I need to step up my game a little bit.
Maybe building some more confidence as a leader
of this congregation, and a leader in the church at large.
Maybe I'm what he needs!
We've been walking through the desert
of this, like, life together, and he doesn't even know!
And there's a pizza place right by our church. Oh, my God!
I love that people call you Jesus.
If you ended up being with a pastor,
- Oh, my gosh! - this would be amazing.
My mom is gonna be so excited!
Okay, so, wait.
Our mission this week is to help Noah take the "past" out of "pastor"
- and find faith in himself! - Yeah!
Who wants coffee?
I'll take coffee.
People think I wanna make coffee 'cause I wanna be generous.
No, it's 'cause I don't want them to make a mess that I gotta clean up.
Over her voice, you can't hear a thing.
- The Lord be with you. - And also with you.
Be with us, Lord, as we meet together.
All this we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
We just need to talk about our 125th anniversary coming up.
Okay, guys. Ready?
It's gonna begin with a worship service.
This is so gorgeous! Isn't this gorgeous?
- A program emceed by Joey. - Hello!
- Oh, God! - Can we come in?
- Hi! - What's going on in here?
You must be Noah, I assume.
I am.
Hi! Oh, thank you.
- Overwhelmed? - Yes!
Hi, Noah!
Hi.
I feel like you should ask before you...
Attention, everyone!
No, no...
- No, you're included here. - Welcome home.
I love that!
My first impressions of Noah are a bit like,
he's gorgeous, he's great, but, like, a baby bit timid.
- Wow. - Noah, how are you doing?
Uh, I am... I'm good!
Now, Noah, not to be distasteful,
we're gonna pretend you're not here for a second.
What does Noah need help with?
He's gotta pick better songs about Jesus!
He needs to be a little a bit more outgoing, personally.
Does he lead this meeting? Are you like the chairperson also?
Oh, yeah, I try really hard.
Do you feel authoritative? Does he feel authoritative?
No, not at all.
He's, like, really working behind the scenes.
- Okay. - In nothing but cargo shorts!
Okay.
That's one of Tanny's Ten Commandments.
Thou shalt not wear cargo shorts.
- Shall we get started? - Yeah!
Let's see, let's get a tour.
- Thank you! Bye. - Bye!
So this has been around for 125 years, this building?
Yes. And it is needing some TLC.
- This is where you keep the holy water? - Yes.
So it's a little dusty right now.
Who threw a dang baseball through the window?
Uh...
You know when you see a church and you're like,
"Oh, in 20 years, that's gonna be a haunted house"?
Just saying.
That's what this is giving me.
Where do you live?
I live right next door.
- In the parsonage? - Yep.
That's a long commute.
- Can we see that? - Yes.
- Ooh, I love a Philly summer. - So this is it.
- Wait, this is it? - You're not kidding.
- Shall we? - Yes, we shall.
Welcome to my home.
It has air. I'm happy about that.
Put that down, great.
Um, Noah. What happened to your wall?
- So, while... - I mean, pastor girl!
And that pipe's definitely a sewage pipe.
This is serving me Jumanji.
It's a little Jumanji-esque.
I watched this whole thing just get worse and worse.
I love exposed bricks!
Let's see more. Where's your bedroom?
This is a great example of heat rising.
Well, this is pretty light.
Okay, black sheets. Smart.
Um, Noah, Noah...
Oh, my gosh.
Mold, scary.
- Yeah. - This isn't good for your health.
Yeah.
- I'm gonna explore. - Go explore.
- I am... - He-Man!
... the power!
- Is it heavy? - Yes.
A nice little cross to fend off
the devil from your grooming tools.
Useful!
- This is sharp! - It is.
Why does a pastor have this?
Hmm.
So we've been out for...
What, 13 years now.
Okay. I'm so proud of you.
You jumped into the pool, water's great.
Right, exactly.
You're like a young, adolescent gay in out years.
Exactly.
How old is my out self?
What's 32 minus 9?
Wait, 13? 19?
Well, whatever.
I can't do math, but I'm a great hair colorist.
All right, closet, let's see what you got!
Ooh! Lots of black. Okay, I get that situation. Uh-huh.
If you find one, you find many cargo shorts. Cargo short.
Ooh, cargo short with a belt, even less flattering.
What you want to learn?
Are you curious about your look? Are you curious about this new beard?
This is kind of the look I inherited.
I have mixed feelings about this.
Like, I don't know how to work with that.
I think you look really handsome with a beard.
- Thank you. - Kind of a little daddy.
You know, kind of a daddy
who's also just a pastor, which is gorgeous.
And I'm so excited get started this week.
Me, too.
Oh, my God, you're a really good hugger, queen!
Love!
He has an extensive library.
He's got a lot of different body sprays.
I don't see any queer literature anywhere.
- There's queer theology. - Really?
- Go on, you can do it. - Jenga!
There's an extensive library, and there's only two queer books.
- Do you have it? We don't have it. - Oh!
Oh, my God. These are good!
I look around, and I know that this isn't safe.
The church council approved construction
to begin to renovate the parsonage.
Is there another space in the church that we could zhuzh up?
And then little by little, you'll be able to slowly get it
to where it's safe for you to be breathing this air.
I think that would be great.
Come here, baby, come get your little toy.
Do you want to play... ooh.
Come here, bitten.
Noah cannot live in the parsonage that he's in now.
I've gotta find him a space that he can live in
until the church does something about the condition of that home.
We love safety! We love safety!
I love an alley.
- Okay, I'm seeing less health hazards. - Yeah!
That's a plus.
I'm seeing beautiful stained-glass window.
This kind of reminds me of Whoopi Goldberg's room
in Sister Act one!
I love the smell of pine. I appreciate the pine candles.
It's a wonderful space.
It's very cool. I think this would be much healthier for you
- and bigger and brighter and happier. - Yeah.
What was your upbringing like? Where were you raised?
I grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
- Mm-hmm. - The meal that really stands out to me,
pinto beans and cornbread.
- Pinto beans and cornbread. Okay. - Pinto beans and cornbread.
You're a southern man, absolutely.
What in gay hell?
Faith and religion is really important to me.
So to hear that we have a pastor that identifies
as part of the LGBT community
is really amazing for me.
What was that journey like for you?
At first, I think it was like, "I finally get to be me."
Then it was like, "Oh, crap, this is really hard."
The church wasn't really ready for openly gay clergy.
You could be openly gay in the pew,
but you couldn't be an openly gay pastor.
In 2009, our group of Lutherans
made a decision that would allow openly gay clergy.
You know what's interesting to me is you found yourself
to a place now where you're proud of being gay,
yet when I look around, I see the physical manifestation
of some type of stress you're going through.
Yeah. I wasn't able to come out until much later in life,
and I wasn't at the forefront
of people leading the church into greater acceptance.
I felt guilty.
I have a severe case of impostor syndrome.
- Huge. - Yeah.
Like, am I really the best person for them here?
This is a community that's struggling for survival, and I need to...
I need to be a leader.
And you're ready?
I am ready.
I think that's why you guys are here.
Yeah.
Thank you.
You're welcome. Thanks for being honest.
- To a complete stranger! - Well, you're easy to talk to.
So what do you hope
that you'll get at the end of this week from each of us?
We have our 125th anniversary coming up.
I'm hoping to be a better leader,
a more public voice
for this kind of Christianity,
especially in this kind of environment.
Great.
- Good. - Snaps for that, honey, yes!
Atonement 125!
Noah only wants the best for Atonement,
and to accomplish that,
he needs to be out there in the field,
meeting people and breaking bread.
He's got a whole look going on under there
that he doesn't even realize that he has.
I'm ready to get the outside
to match all that's going on on the inside.
My goal this week
is to get Noah out of that home that's not safe for him.
The church is renovating the parsonage,
so besides giving Noah a new place to lay his head,
we're gonna be giving the community space
and the sanctuary a much-needed facelift.
When you come out at a later stage,
you start to relive those teenage years,
and I think he just got stuck in there.
I want to show Noah versions of classic clothing
that definitely is more appropriate for who he is
and what he wants outside of work.
All the messages he received from the church early on
are still with him.
For me to get Noah to a place
where he can accept his present and start working on a better future,
he has to resolve the trauma from his past.
This is your station, right over here.
Noah, don't look so nervous.
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for gorgeous Noah!
Noah is very comfortable in his church,
around his council, in his apartment,
on his couch with his books and his DVDs,
but he needs to be more comfortable going out
and just communicating and being around people.
My name is Noah Hepler. I'm the pastor at Atonement Lutheran
in the Fishtown neighborhood here in Philadelphia.
We have brought with us a gaggle of gays
to help Noah see that he can be himself completely.
The room is full of us.
I wanted to make this a fun culinary experience
'cause we're actually here to help Noah.
Remind us, please, what's going on at the end of the week.
So, Atonement is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
We are going to have an amazing worship service
and just kind of blowout party, the only way that Atonement can do it,
and that's gotta include food.
To actually honor Noah's southern heritage,
we're making a skillet cornbread,
a really classic, simple recipe,
but we're gonna customize it with some extra elements.
We made some brown butter.
It's gonna add nice dark color around the edges of our cornbread.
Take the brown butter and pour it into the bowl. Beautiful.
Now we can take the maple syrup
and then gently just pour it into the brown butter.
Now we have buttermilk.
Gently just drizzle this in to our nice little mixture.
- You're doing great. - I'm doing it.
Making cornbread.
So, you're gonna go ahead and crack three eggs.
- You wanna do one on my head? - Yeah.
Oh, my gosh, you're nightmares.
Anyway, for the rest of you, our dry ingredients,
cornmeal, wholewheat flour, bleached flour,
baking soda,
baking powder,
a nice little pinch of salt.
Your batter's looking really velvety and great.
I'm very proud of it.
Antoni, look at how great his batter is looking.
Yeah.
- Have you been neglecting yours? - No!
Okay, jalapeños.
I love jalapeños!
If you want it little hotter, use the seeds.
You throw in your jalapeños. into your batter mix.
Damn, Noah, you went off on your jalapeños!
You have, like, a whole chunk! That's brilliant.
You're about to burn somebody's house down with that, honey!
Last step, guys.
So, our oven is set to 350.
- Go ahead and plop that right in there. - Yeah, be careful.
Nailing it.
So, this one can go right here.
I actually want Noah to walk around.
We're engaging, we're interacting.
For his congregation to grow, outreach is imperative.
Noah is stepping up to the plate.
He can be a leader by just leaning into who he already is
and knowing that that's enough.
Now that you got to meet all your new friends,
I think it would be maybe nice to invite them for the end of the week.
Yes. I would love for all of you to join us
at Atonement's 125th anniversary this Saturday.
Yes!
- I think they're ready. - Yay!
- Wow! - Yay!
How are you feeling?
- Excited. - Okay, I'll take excited.
What are we excited about?
Um, new opportunities.
I feel like I'm not putting my best self out there.
Okay. You're done with work, you've got a few minutes to get ready,
what are you wearing?
In this weather, I'd probably try to find my nicest pair of shorts.
Okay. When you come out a little bit later,
a lot of the time, many people revert back to their teenage selves,
which is when they probably wanted to come out.
When I saw your cargo shorts,
- I thought that's also a clear sign -Yeah.
of somebody who was reliving their youth.
- Yeah. - He's a middle-aged man.
No longer can we accept the cargo shorts.
If this even were more fitted,
- do you see what that does for your legs? - Yeah.
- Immediately, they look longer. - Yeah.
Right now, you're drowning in your clothes.
And on a teenager, fine.
- But I want you to look respectable, - Yes.
and I want to make your wardrobe as easy as possible.
The reason why I wanted to bring you to a store like this
is because they do simple very, very well.
Any one of these things that you mix will work.
Okay.
I guess all I'm saying is I want you to look sexy.
I don't know if I can say that to a pastor, but I want you to.
- Okay? - Okay.
- Are you ready to try on whatever I want? - Yes.
- All right, Tan. - Oh, hello!
- You look so good! - Oh, thank you.
Come take a look at yourself.
- Okay. - Let's talk about it.
- It's different. - Yes.
Um... there are things I'm not sure about.
Hit me with it. I'll take whatever you've got.
I'm not sure that this particular jacket
- is bringing it for me. - Okay.
I don't know. Maybe it feels plain?
Plain? All right.
I was worried that we couldn't go jazzier, but okay.
- Shall we try something else? - Sure.
I've got something that has a little bit more detail to it.
Okay.
Is that better?
Oh, Noah, you look hot.
Take a look.
- I definitely like this. - Love.
This top part is feeling really good.
I think we could go slightly slimmer on the pants.
- A little bit more shape would be nice. - Yeah.
Could it be a date look?
I definitely would wear this.
That makes me happy. Did we nail it?
- I think so. - Okay, good.
Hello.
Hello, Bobby Berk.
- Look at you! - Doesn't he look so nice?
We're wearing opposites today.
Go get changed. Thank you, my love.
- Aww, good job. - Thanks, my love. It's been a good one.
That was fun, but let me tell you,
the difficult thing with Noah is that
I think we need to draw out who he really is,
'cause he's not showing that in any way.
Not in his style. Not in the way he presents.
He's got the all black down.
Maybe it's just purely a confidence thing.
- He's wearing what makes him feel safe. - Yeah.
That's what he's accepted as, he's accepted as the minister,
so he stays in that box.
We need to help him feel comfortable with that other part of his life,
- which is who he is as a person. - Yeah.
- His real life, not just the job. - Yeah.
Hello, dear. Are you ready to go?
I am saddened to see you back in this, it hurts my heart a little bit.
- It's not your look. - I'm hiding in it.
We're gonna empower you to feel amazing and perfectly safe
in more daring outfits.
- Thank you. - Wait until you see your closets.
Thank you. I'm gonna continue to shop. Bye, boys!
So, how's it been thus far?
I've had a lot of fun, lots of surprises.
Learned anything yet?
Yeah, learning to just kind of go with the flow.
- That's a hard thing to do sometimes. - Sometimes it is.
Especially, like, the church, you know.
You've been a minister there how long now?
I've been there right around five years.
And what are your plans going forward?
We want to create friendship with the community that we're in.
That also means having honest conversations.
The church is quick to try to fix things
without owning the damage that was done.
And that's one of the things that I want to change
and advocate for, like,
"No, let's own those moments that we've hurt people."
And we need to do some real apology
and real reconciliation around that.
Christianity cloaks itself as
a loving, safe space,
but that's not the church we grew up with.
No.
The faith has been used against us, and it should not have been.
There are a lot of stories in the Bible,
they're in there, and they're not told.
- Right. - For example,
there's the one where the centurion goes to Jesus and says,
"My slave is ill, and I want you to heal him."
The Greek word that's used there is, he says, "My beloved."
If you take into account historical distance,
it means boyfriend.
And Jesus doesn't say anything about that,
he just heals the guy.
Wow! Where did you read that in the Bible?
It's a very short story, but it's very powerful, and it's like,
there we are,
and yet the story has been retold
in a way that leaves us out.
I would like for the rest of the Lutheran world
to kind of see that.
I wanted to get some new flags designed for your sanctuary.
- After you, sir. - Thank you.
I wanted you to see the different things we can do.
I noticed a lot of teal around.
Show me teal.
I'll show you some fabric swatches.
- Show me teal. - All right.
- So this is the teal. - Okay.
- I think that'll look very pretty. - Yeah.
There's some of that color in the stained-glass windows.
Yeah.
Also what's cool about teal is this is
a very traditional Philadelphia green color.
- Yeah. - You'll see it everywhere.
So, fabric-wise, we can do a couple of different things.
We can print it, but what I had in mind was this,
where it's stitched on.
- Yeah. - I wanted to make sure
that I put this up on the wall,
celebrating 125 years,
because I want everyone to remember how the church has evolved.
- Yeah. - How far we've come.
We can make sure that every single day,
we're fighting for the next 125 years to be even better.
I think we're going to love it.
All right, cool.
It's important for Noah to be around other LGBTQ clergy,
so that he can understand that he's not alone in his struggles.
You got two people who are amazing.
Bishop Guy Erwin, the first openly gay bishop of the Lutheran faith.
I was honored that they asked me
to come and be with you in this time.
I've followed you on social media,
I know you're a conscientious and dedicated pastor,
and I appreciate what you do.
I mean, powerful.
And Pastor Megan, first openly trans pastor
in the Lutheran church.
I was one of the extraordinarily ordained pastors,
which means that I was one of the pastors
who got ordained and lived openly
during the time when the church was saying no.
The issues that you're having today, and the reason that
you don't have the present
or the future you want is because of your past.
We have to figure out what got you to this place where you felt
like an impostor,
so that we can come forward.
I had always avoided
saying that I was gay.
Sure.
Because of the church's lack of acceptance.
But I feel held back
by my past.
And I feel like I can't be the kind of
leader in the church,
not just my own congregation, but in the church,
that I could be.
I keep running a negative script about myself
in my head, because I didn't step up
within the larger story of the queer community.
I haven't gotten over it.
Your story and mine are not entirely different.
I know how it hurts.
I am very deeply sorry for the pain
that you have felt.
Our world needs you right now.
- Yeah. - It's calling you.
There's not a month that goes by
that I don't get messages
and letters from parents who say,
"My kids think they can't go to church,
but the good news that you put out online
makes me think that maybe there is a place for them in the future."
There's a kid in my congregation.
Yeah.
I've been waiting for him to come out since the first time I met him.
His mom and his grandma have been waiting for him to come out
since he was four.
- He came out this year. - Yes.
And I am just... elated
that for him,
the one place that won't tell him
anything bad about who he is
will be his church.
Would you ever tell that kid in your congregation
they didn't come out soon enough?
No.
So why do you tell yourself that, child of God?
Thank you.
What's going on?
I needed to hear that.
You have no idea.
- You're talking about the calling. - Amen.
Whoo! You are right where you're supposed to be, brother.
You have no idea!
And I'm so glad,
'cause my shoulders are tired and there needs to be more of us.
- And Guy's in there, too. - We need more, all the time.
Every word of grace we say, it has an impact,
whether we ever see it or not.
We are communicating constantly, God's love to other people.
And to do so as an out gay pastor, even without saying more than that,
who you are preaches, and people need to hear that.
Just remember, in the days when it's hard,
that all pastors are struggling,
no matter how together they look on Facebook.
And that you're not alone,
that you have colleagues.
And I don't come by myself, I come with a cloud of witnesses
and saints who join me, in part, 'cause I brought you this.
This stole was passed down to 11 different pastors
who were ordained
outside of the official rules of the church,
but because they felt called to serve openly and authentically.
And this stole gets passed down
because we know that we're a part
of a long, faithful calling.
We don't think any of us should carry it alone and keep it.
So I'm gonna give it to you
and call you to this new calling that you're embracing,
with the hope that you will pass this along to the next person
who needs to hear that same message. And you'll know when it's right.
Right?
You are a part of the great calling
of so many fabulous pastors.
You get to embody that freedom
that came to you in your baptism.
And you get to preach openly
in ways that generations only dreamed of.
Thank you. Amen.
The church, for me, is a place of hurt, judgment and pain.
That being said,
Noah clearly wants to make a safe space for everyone.
If he can stop a church from ever being a place
of judgment, hurt and pain for future gay youth,
it makes me wanna help.
Welcome to The Duke Barber Co. We love them.
After you.
Thank you.
This is our friend Will.
Will, this is Noah.
- Good to meet you. - Hi, Noah, nice to meet you.
Baby Noah is a pastor,
and he's a very nice man who we adore.
Let's talk about your hair a little bit.
I normally wear it fairly short.
I did for a while sport a nice bowl cut.
Oh. Serving, like, friar realness.
Not today, Satan.
I have been wondering, like, what might look the best for me.
I'm personally ready to say, like, au revoir.
I'm feeling short hair on top, but then gorgeous beard.
One way to make a beard give a little bit more of a polished look
is when you have a barber who knows how to fade the beard
to, like, the haircut.
- He's a gorgeous barber. - Thank you.
- It's gonna be great. Yep. - Let's do it.
- All right. - It's a very homoerotic back of your...
This is very, like, strappy things. Yes. Major.
That's adorable.
What are you doing to get more parishioners?
We haven't done any significant advertising.
Do you guys have foot traffic?
I think we get a little bit off of Facebook.
You know how people come to visit places now?
It's Instagram. It's Twitter.
I've been talking with a couple friends to tutor me.
I'll tutor you right now.
Part of planning your Instagram feed is, like,
doing series that people like.
- Right. - You could do a minute video,
where you just do a paragraph of your favorite verse
and say what it means to you.
Social media is a tool and a resource for us to connect.
And improve our connectivity with those people around us.
Like if you're trying to spread the word of God.
Come to church! Come to church! Come to church!
I'm gonna do a little thing with your brows.
I just want to frame those suckers up just, like, a little, tiny bit.
This is fun. I've never done this before.
- Really? - Yeah.
This is looking so good,
I'm about to become the preacher's wife.
Wow, are you looking gorge. So good.
- Are you ready to see the new you? - I am.
I'm gonna turn you around. Here's the new, gorgeous Pastor Noah.
Boom.
You're speechless!
Yes!
- Don't your brows look good? - Yeah.
Do you like how it frames them up a little?
- Handsome man under there. - Wow.
- Right? - That's amazing.
Mmm!
Happy 125th anniversary, Atonement.
I mean, can you believe?
Oh! Fun!
- My gosh, you are sexy. - You look so handsome!
- Thank you. - Good to see you.
- You look so good! - Thank you!
Awww!
Ready to see more?
Wow.
That is amazing.
- See our banners that we had made. - Yeah, yeah.
It's like looking in the mirror yesterday, I was just like, "Wow!"
If you notice the rainbow lights now.
Yeah.
- Up-lighting the church. - Oh, nice.
When people come in, I want them to know,
"I'm in a new kind of church.
I'm in an accepting church.
I'm in a church that likes not just colorful walls,
but colorful people."
- Yeah! - Yes. Thank you.
This is my church.
- Let's see the community center. - Yes, squad!
Wow!
How beautiful is this?
- Snacks! - Wow.
- I know you like modern... - Yeah.
... and so I wanted to make this room modern and clean and cool.
Brought in some of the colors from the stained-glass
- in the chairs and the dishes. - Yeah.
Jonathan's already enjoying the space.
He feels very comfortable already.
All right. Boys!
- Boys! - We're coming.
I mean, amazing.
- Oh, my God. - It's so beautiful.
Nothing is prettier behind a bed
than a backdrop of stained-glass windows.
It's gorgeous.
That's amazing.
For the five years I've been here,
it's not even come close to looking this good.
It's gonna be great for you to live in
- while you renovate the house. - Exactly.
When you get that house renovated,
this could be where the youth group meets or children's classes.
It's like you've read our mind.
- Miracles happen. - Gorge!
You show up for your community in such an incredible way.
- Do you see that you're a leader? - Yeah.
I feel it. I see it in myself in new ways.
And we have all these resources
in this space
to bring people in more, around food.
Food builds community.
Food builds community. That's well put.
I just love exactly how this is looking now.
It's beautiful.
I know that you're going to be able to heal so many people,
not only in your community, but around the world,
because your testimony is going to be so strong
in helping other people
to truly know that they can overcome.
I'm wonderfully overwhelmed.
Fabulously overwhelmed!
Under the eyes of God, we're all accepted. We are all loved.
And for you to have a space
that's going to be open to everyone,
that's God's work.
Thank you for being part of it. Oh!
So, how are you feeling?
Good. Happy to see that you're not in your fireproof suit.
- Not today. - Yeah, not today!
But I also wanted to say I am just beyond thankful
that you just really invested yourself
in a building that represents
an institution that's been very painful.
I get that.
The church owes you an apology.
And as much as I can embody that,
I want to say I'm sorry for your experience.
When I think about if I ever have kids,
if I would bring them to church,
my first thought is always, "Hell, no." No pun intended.
Um...
But then on another hand, I'm like,
if churches like this started happening more,
there might be a chance I would bring my kids to a church.
I don't want our experience to ever happen to anyone else.
Yeah.
- Thank you for coming. - Sure.
Noah! Noah!
"Hey, you ready, boys?"
Are you ready or not?
We are!
Noah, will you join us, my love?
Noah! Noah!
Whoa! Okay!
- Very handsome, I like this. - Yes!
It's a great staple jacket, that's gonna go with anything.
Thank you.
It compliments the cut to the beard and the hair so beautifully.
So good together. Let's see the next one.
Nice. It's a subtle change,
but it's still so different than what you were wearing before.
I can see your personal style in this.
Yeah, yeah, I can, too. I really like this outfit.
- Gorge! - Oh, that's great that it's short sleeve.
You look so cute.
- Thanks. - How do you feel?
I feel amazing.
I don't know how to thank you guys enough.
This is something I've really needed.
And I think it's something
that my community has really needed from me.
You have the opportunity to be that voice,
to be able to be that beacon of light.
Keep doing what you're doing, but I want you to do it a little louder.
The people in the back row need to hear it, not just in here,
- but the back row of the world. - Back row.
This is a model for where we're headed.
How are you feeling about your event tonight?
I think it's gonna be amazing.
You already are a gorgeous leader, but make sure
you're a leader of action,
of calling your friend who runs a gay man's chorus.
Make sure you call him to get the entertainment lined up for tonight.
- You've got stuff to do. - We should get out of your hair.
- We love you. - You gotta get ready. We're gonna get out of your way.
- Noah. - Thank you.
My hope for Noah is that he understands that his voice has power.
- Another one. - Mmm!
Oh, what an idea!
He gets to be that leader
kids can go to because they don't feel safe.
He gets to be that change.
- I love you. - Love you, too.
You're a good hugger.
Oh, my God.
Bye, Noah. Have fun tonight.
- Bye, guys. - Bye.
- I'm bringing my coffee. - Jonny's hungry.
That is a really, really, really, really, really, really, pretty jacket.
What did I tell you when I saw you today?
- This is what you buried your grandma in? - It is.
I wanted you to feel really at home
so I decided to wear this
- to bring you comfort and joy. - Tanny!
Tan... Karamo... I mean Bobby! Oh, my God!
My grandma's spirit just came into me!
That's what she used to do!
- Can't remember any of our names. - Oh, my God, that's insane!
On that note, let's go.
- Yeah! - Come on.
- Let's do this. - Fives, are you ready?
Yeah, good one, Karamo!
- He looks so good! - Noah!
125 years!
I feel like this is a new beginning for him and the church.
Looks good.
Looks real good.
- He's go a nice beard. - He's super handsome.
He looks lovely.
All right. Can't wait.
Oh, here they come.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
Look at this!
Yeah, seriously!
- You're gorgeous, dude. - You look amazing.
Aww!
Fabulous.
Fabulous is what we're going for.
- You're pretty, but let's see the church. - Are you ready?
- Can we? - Come on in.
Wow!
I love, love!
- Wow! - Unbelievable!
This is so Sister Act, and I love it so much.
This is like disco church now. This is fabulous!
The quirkiest church in Fishtown, right?
- We got the rainbow lights. - Amen!
Aww.
Walter, I need you to calm down. Hey, sit!
Aww, Bobby, they love what you did with the church so much.
There's more.
- Oh, my God! - Oh, my God!
Oh, my God.
Whoa! Noah!
- Noah, Look! - Look at this coffee maker!
We can have cappuccino!
- Look at this. - They got matching plates.
- Oh, my God! - We are stocked.
Coffee, coffee, I'm in heaven!
"Coffee, coffee!"
- You don't need any more caffeine. - Woman after my own heart.
- You're my team to help get ready. - Got this.
- Good luck. - We got this.
- The church has never been more full. - You know what else is full?
- Your heart? - Heart.
Your gay heart?
I was so ready for you to say something disgusting, and you made it cute.
Grace and peace to you this day.
I welcome you to this, the 125th anniversary of Atonement.
You might notice, we got a little bit of a boost.
You might notice, I got a little bit of a boost.
I just had a daydream where, like, techno music came on
and he started doing a striptease.
I would love that. That would be amazing.
But I have not told my story,
at least certainly not to so diverse an audience.
But today, the hottest, most flaming day of the year,
I'm gonna do it.
I grew up in a very different Christian tradition.
It was one that did not focus on grace.
It did not focus on love.
Don't listen to secular music.
Don't play cards.
Definitely don't dance.
And so I knew,
"Okay, what you feel inside,
is way worse than the time
that they found that pop rock cassette tape
in your book bag."
I was convinced that it was a temptation to lead me away from God.
I fought it.
I remember the moment where I heard the Lord
say to me, "Noah, come out."
- Yes! - Yes.
But I have noticed, over the past couple of years,
that I have continued to keep part of myself
shoved in the tomb and buried,
because I still felt like there was something wrong.
And then, a parishioner found a flyer.
Filled it out.
Kinda as a joke.
And the next...
The next thing that I know,
five men began to change my life.
I promised, and I asked to be held accountable,
and I ask you also to help this be a community
where people, whether it's about sexuality or race or whatever,
that they do not experience the kinds of things
that Bobby and I experienced.
And instead, find this as a community of resurrection
and of being let go.
- Wow! - I love that.
Authenticity and vulnerability in front of anyone.
He's being a true courageous leader,
letting the light of Jesus just shine through him.
Go in peace, be fabulous for the Lord.
- Amen. - Peace be with you.
Before this week, I continued to carry a lot of guilt and shame,
and now I see how much that was getting
in my way of actually helping others.
My calling is still pastor,
but I feel inspired to step forward
and tell my story.
I am becoming
the pastor that I've always wanted to be.
Guys, a toast to Noah!
- And to Atonement. - Yeah.
And to another 125 years.
- Yes, please. - Which equals 250.
Hey, buddy, you don't need to get nervous.
This is Walter.
HIs mom's on our production team.
He is part Catahoula Leopard dog.
Labrador Retriever.
- Shih Tzu. - Chihuahua.
- American Pit Bull Terrier. - Australian Cattle Dog.
And American Bulldog.
- And most importantly, he's 100% lovable. - Yeah.
Mmm!
Yeah, you are. You're lovable. You're funny, ha ha!
- Synced and corrected by chamallow - - www.addic7ed.com -