Pasadena’s All Saints Church To Lead Opening Hymn For National Pride Service

All Saints Church in Pasadena will play an important role in the Episcopal Church’s first-ever national Pride Month service, with the local congregation’s combined choirs leading the opening hymn on Sunday, June 1. The historic event, according to a press release from the church, will take place at the Episcopal Church’s headquarters in New York City.

“This celebratory service of blessing and commissioning is not only a landmark moment for those within the Episcopal Church,” said All Saints priest the Reverend Susan Russell in a statement.

“It is also an unequivocal statement to the wider world that the Episcopal Church’s commitment to dignity, equality and the inclusive love of God is a non-negotiable. We are grateful that our Presiding Bishop is sending such a clear signal to the forces working in our nation and in our world to oppress and marginalize LGBTQ people and we are proud to be part of a church taking a stand for love, justice and compassion.”

The service, to be led by Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, will commission Episcopalians who will be taking the message of God’s inclusive love to Pride parades across the nation, the release states.

The ceremony will take place at the chapel of the Episcopal Church Center at 815 Second Avenue in New York City at 3:00 p.m. Pasadena time — and livestreamed from the church’s website.

All Saints Church, founded in 1883 as Pasadena’s first Episcopal parish, has maintained its current location at 132 N. Euclid Avenue since 1889, with the present church building dating to 1923-1924.

All Sant’s announcement said the congregation has a long legacy as a “prophetic witness,” including providing a leadership voice in the 1970s anti-war movement, the anti-apartheid movement in the 1990s, the battle for the ordination of women and the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights and marriage equity in both the church and civic arena.