St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

 The Rev. Grant M. Gallup ¡Presente!

 By The Rev. Kevin D. Pearson

 When the names of heroes and martyrs are called out in Latin America, those gathered shout “¡Presente!,” to say “You continue to be present.” “Your witness lives on in us.”  Thanksgiving evening, November 26, Fr. Grant M. Gallup died in his Managua home, joining that immortal band who remain presente.

 In his 20 years of “retirement” Gallup founded and ran Casa Ave Maria, a house of hospitality for visitors to Nicaragua.  “Pilgrims,” he called them—people who, after encountering a land of liberation, may never return to their old lives.

 As his funeral procession wound through the streets of his poor barrio to San Pedro Cemetery, townspeople entered the street to honor this one-of-a-kind, holy man whose kindness amused and aided them.  Remembering Gallup, Alan Jones, Dean Emeritus of Grace Cathedral, wrote, “Imagine him, walking jauntily along—off to market—with that little parrot on his shoulder. Imagine him presiding at a meal with lots of wine and laughter. Imagine him presiding at a house mass, which, as small as it was, included the whole world … Grant was a priest of the Incarnation, of God’s presence everywhere. He was God’s priest, wounded by the world, healed by simple gospel truths.”

 Born in Michigan, Gallup entered Presbyterian, Alma College in 1950.  When he publicly revealed his homosexuality, the dean moved to expel him. Grant noted that he had the school’s highest grades, edited the student newspaper, and replied that he would be staying put.  The dean acquiesced and Gallup graduated magna cum laude. Seeing more room for himself in the Episcopal Church, Gallup entered Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in 1956. His vision and voice were inseparable from his sense of dignity as a child of God and he walked a prophet’s path. 

 For three decades he served St. Andrew’s Church, an African-American mission on Chicago’s West Side. Gallup marched with Dr. King, hosted the Black Panthers in his parish hall, and shepherded an up-rising people.  He was the first chaplain to Integrity and part of the Chicago chapter. Life-long friend and Integrity founder, Louie Crew, once asked Gallup how, as a gay man, parishioners were dealing with his openness, to which Grant responded, “the same way I deal with theirs.”  His passion for the liberating gospel led him to those at the margins worldwide. In 2003, Gallup travelled to Iraq, offering himself as a human shield in hopes of preventing the impending US invasion.  For many years, Gallup published weekly sermons he called Homily Grits, each one a call to arms and hearts of just-love, beauty, and humor.

 His intellectual curiosity and youthful spirit never dimmed.  He surrounded himself with people of all ages, races, and creeds—often all at once.  To an Italian atheist who single-handedly ran an orphanage in Nicaragua, when she mused about their religious differences, he replied, “It’s OK that you don’t believe in God, God believes in you.”

 On the day before his death, we hung on other ends of the telephone, worlds apart, saying the words that matter most in this world: I love you.  And then Grant asked, “When will we see each other again?”  My answer will always be ¡Presente!

 Many of The Rev. Grant Gallup’s prophetic sermons are available at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/homilygrits/

 The Rev. Kevin D. Pearson is rector of St. Luke’s Church, Renton, WA.

Jered Weber-Johnson was ordained to the priesthood at St. Alban’s Church in Washington D.C. where he serves as assistant for youth and young adults.  Jered and his wife, Erin, were parishioners at St. Luke’s and were raised up by this parish for their vocations.

St. Alban’s is a parish church on the campus of Washington National Cathedral.  Bishop of Olympia, Greg Rickel ordained Jered.  Fr. Pearson was among those presenting Jered to the Bishop for ordination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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