All Saints Church Welcomes First Openly Gay Bishop for Pride Month Celebration

All Saints Church in Pasadena will welcome Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the worldwide Christian church, for a special Pride Month service Sunday that will feature the West Coast premiere of a choral anthem commissioned in his honor.

Robinson, the ninth Bishop of New Hampshire, will preach and preside at the 10 a.m. service on June 15, continuing the church’s celebration of Pride Month. The service will include the debut of “Our Wildest Imagining,” a choral composition created by Philadelphia composer Dominick DiOrio to commemorate Robinson’s 50 years of ordained ministry.

All Saints is among a unique national group of churches and performing arts organizations that commissioned the piece from DiOrio, an award-winning composer who grew up gay in Robinson’s home state of New Hampshire. The work draws on Robinson’s sermons, stories and sayings, as well as selections from Psalm 27, which held personal meaning for the bishop during difficult times.

The Canterbury and Coventry Choirs will perform the piece with a brass ensemble during the festive service. DiOrio will join Robinson at 9 a.m. for an adult education session in the Forum to discuss the bishop’s ministry and the creation of the choral work.

Robinson made history when he became the first openly gay bishop consecrated in the worldwide Christian church, a milestone that sparked both celebration and controversy within the Anglican Communion. His selection as bishop in 2003 led to significant divisions within the Episcopal Church and the broader Anglican world.

The composition is described as both a tribute and a cultural statement — an interfaith act of music-making that affirms dignity, inclusion and hope. The church characterizes it as a sweeping and personal musical portrait that celebrates Robinson’s message of radical welcome.

All Saints Church offers multiple worship services on Sundays, including a 7:30 a.m. spoken-word service and various educational and fellowship opportunities.

Sunday’s service will include ASL interpretation, and the church provides childcare and children’s programming during the 10 a.m. worship. A coffee hour will follow the service.

The church also streams its services online through its website, https://allsaints-pas.org/; its Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/AllSaintsPasadena/; and YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/allsaintspasadena1/ for those unable to attend in person.