At Revolution Church, Equality Tastes Good, Too

As most readers of this bloggy thing know, I have a love/hate relationship with religion and religious people.

Well, no, that’s not entirely true. I don’t hate all religions, nor do I hate all religious people. My Grandma told me a long time ago to never use the word hate, so I don’t hate anything; except for okra … and spiders, maybe.

So, my relationship with those condemning and damning religions, and those overtly, overly zealous religious folks, is kind of love/loathe. Loathe is a better word. But, one religion, one church, one group of religious folks, have caught my eye this fine Monday morning, and that is the Revolution Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where marriage equality is now the law of the land.

See, this past weekend, still basking in the rainbow glow of equality, the Revolution Church offered their traditional Communion services with a slight variation: they served rainbow-colored communion bread.

Yes, they did, and the church’s head pastor, the Reverend Jay Bakker thought the bread—and Minnesota’s step into equality—both tasted "kind of sweet."

"So many people have been hurt by the church and by Christianity. But this was a beautiful moment."— Reverend Jay Bakker

The Rainbow wafers were baked by photojournalist Courtney Perry, who served them at her 2011 commitment ceremony with her partner Tony Perry. Courtney and Tony opted not to have a wedding because they “didn't want to get legally married when [their] friends couldn't."

And, while her gesture was sweet, Perry soon realized that even partnership agreements, even civil unions, don’t hold the same weight as full marriage equality. She said she had trouble filing for everything from health insurance to health club memberships because she and her partner were not legally married. And that’s why she went to the State Capitol last Monday to be there when the Senate passed the bill.

"People were singing and chanting. There were smiles everywhere."—Courtney Perry

But, there were also those anti-gay marriage signs. So, she baked the Rainbow wafers and took them to church, and Reverend Bakker used them during the service. 

Bakker has said he’s already received plenty of backlash from conservative social media users who learned of the new bread, but feels that those people have “missed out on the higher message of the Bible and who Jesus is and what he did. They've become victims of tradition."

And while Bakker’s church is decidedly liberal—the New York branch of his Revolution Church meets at Pete's Candy Store, a bar in Brooklyn, and in Minneapolis, his church launched its meetings at Bryant Lake Bowl, a theater space with a bowling alley and a restaurant—he wasn't expecting the colorful communion bread to strike a chord with so many people. Bakker guesses that the bread will likely be a regular guest at his church.

"I think Christ's table is very inclusive."—the Reverend Bakker

As it should be, I think.

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