With Sunday, June 1 marking the start of Pride Month, the Rev. Jessie Turnier, rector of Claremont’s St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, called on an old friend, John Brett, to help deliver a unique 9 a.m. service dubbed “drag Eucharist.”

Brett, a chaplain and vicar with the San Francisco Night Ministry, introduced himself to St. Ambrose parishioners in his drag persona, Bene Diction.

“In addition to walking the streets at night in the Tenderloin and other densely populated parts of [San Francisco], listening and providing care and crisis intervention for our neighbors in the streets, I also engage with folks in the nightlife industry and the queer community,” Brett told the Courier. “I have been working as a chaplain for 10 years and I found my way to the night ministry in San Francisco through seminary in Berkeley.”

As parishioners made their way in, a volunteer distributed pride flags. LGBTQ+ dedications were made during the intention portion of the service, and as Turnier read aloud the Gospel, Brett read aloud a parallel story by Jay Hulme titled “Jesus at the Gay Bar.”

Afterward, Brett led the homily and spent time explaining his work. He preached three messages: that we should accept our neighbors, accept those different than us, and understand it’s up to each individual to accept God.

“I thought his message was very appropriate for the day,” said Ruth Godfrey, an 81-year-old St. Ambrose parishioner.

Elizabeth McGarry, 60, and Bob Connolly, 54, were visiting St. Ambrose for the first time.

“I was amazed,” McGarry said, describing Brett’s sermon as incredibly moving, powerful, and authentic. “I felt very blessed to be part of it.”

Connolly said Brett’s sermon was a “really unifying message, and one that resonated deeply with me. You know, unfortunately sometimes you don’t always hear that in the church or a religious event, and it was a very open and embracing experience for me.”

St. Ambrose has long observed the first Sunday of Pride Month, known as Pride Sunday, Turnier said

“We celebrate Pride Sunday every year to communicate an explicit celebration and inclusion of everyone,” Turnier said. “Of course, all year we’re inclusive and celebrate, but today is the day that we explicitly do it. This is the first time though that we have had somebody in drag as part of the service.”

Read it all in the Claremont Courier