The night I attended Mass at St. Denis's was catastrophic. After I told the priest I had formally joined the Episcopal Church, he refused me Communion--an act of pettiness that set the tone for the evening. THEN, he launched into a full-on tirade against the LGBT community in his so-called "homily," spewing invective with the smug authority of someone who thinks that intolerance is holy. This priest may have moved to another parish, but it's painfully obvious that his successors are cut from the same cloth. Their bulletins read like instruction manuals in judgment and bigotry. For this reason, I would STRONGLY urge anyone with an ounce of decency to avoid this toxic parish at all costs. They are not just misguided--they are malicious. Of course, they will likely protest this judgment. (Their attitude would likely be, "love the individual, hate the action,") but I refuse to split hairs with the morally bankrupt. I have even been blocked on Facebook simply for stating the truth. I can feel the love... or rather, the poisonous hatred that permeates this place. Attending Mass here with my dad instead of going separately should have been a moment of family unity, but instead, it was a travesty of faith and decency. I chose growth and inclusion. They chose hypocrisy. Avoid. Run. Never look back. This parish embodies everything wrong with organized religion--arrogance, ignorance, and intolerance. read more
