A Reflection

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A REFLECTION BY
The Rev. Belva Y. Boone, Senior Pastor
St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church
Raleigh, North Carolina

Beloved In Christ,

I can still hear her now . . . raising a joy-filled “Hallelujah!” among those with whom she had the pleasure of ministering.  I remember vividly the very first time I met her . . . her smile, her hugs, her glowing eyes, the stream of hope and the river of love she freely gave away.  The countless lives that she touched, the countless lives that were healed because of her unwavering faith, the countless men and women who experienced God in newer, deeper and richer ways are too numerous to list . . . but the witness and testimony of their lives will tell the story for years to come . . . including my own.  To be in her presence was to be in the presence of one of God’s anointed servants.

I, like so many throughout our Denomination today, are mourning the passing of The Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey.  Yet, even as I write this brief reflection, I find myself filled with mixed emotions.  On the one hand, my heart is heavy and grieves her passing from this earthly life . . . I was honored to call her pastor, prophet, mentor and friend and I will miss her tremendously.  On the other hand, my heart is likewise happy and beams with joy because of the sure and certain knowledge that Jeri Ann transitioned from this earthly life to the eternal life that she believed in, talked about, preached about and envisioned flying away to one day.  I can see her dancing with the angels even as I write!!

While we will all grieve Jeri Ann’s loss in different ways, I believe we must likewise celebrate the life, ministry and legacy of such an extraordinary woman of faith.  Without question, Jeri Ann would want us to celebrate!  I think she would also want us to care for and lean on each other during this time.  Thus, as we mourn Jeri Ann’s passing, let us keep in our thoughts and prayers Jeri Ann’s family, especially her partner, The Rev. Elder Gill Storey, during this time.  Gill, we honor and thank you for the tremendous gifts of love, laughter, faithfulness and joy you brought to Jeri Ann’s life and for the ways in which you loved her into her new life . . . healed, happy and whole.  Know that we surround you with our love and prayers today and always. 

Jeri Ann, thank you for your ministry with and to us.  Thank you for the many gifts you shared with us.  Thank you for loving and caring for us.  Thank you for your laughter and the tears you shared with us.  Thank you for your wisdom.  Thank you for leading us.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for teaching us how to dance again.  Thank you for embodying the promise “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  Thank you for being “Jesus with skin on” to all of us.  Thank you for being the gift you were and will always be to many of us . . . including me.

As you rest from your labors, we will continue to press on.  As you rest from your labors, we will trust on.  As you rest from your labors, we will believe on.  As you rest from your labors, we will live and love on.  As you rest from your labors, we will keep on keeping on, until that day when these words will one day become our spirit song too:    
 
  Some bright morning when this life is over, I’ll fly away
  To that home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away

  When the shadows of this life have gone, I’ll fly away
  Like a bird from these prison walls have flown, I’ll fly away

     I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away (in the morning)
     When I die hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away

  Oh how glad and happy when we meet, I’ll fly away
  No more cold iron shackles on my feet, I’ll fly away

  Just a few more weary days and then, I’ll fly away
  To a land where joys will never end, I’ll fly away

     I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away (in the morning)
     When I die hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away 

We love you, Jeri Ann.  Rest well . . . until we meet again on God’s celestial shore.
 

 

 

A Giant has Fallen

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A letter from Rev. Robin Gorsline
Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia (USA)

Dear Community in Faith

A giant has fallen.

There are few people in the almost 40 years of MCC who have had greater impact on our movement, and our world, than Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey.

And in Richmond some folks know her in ways few others do. That is especially true of dear, beloved Bubba—for whom she was sister, and he brother, of choice (in addition to loved siblings by birth). I ache for him in losing the best friend he ever had.

And I ache for others who count Jeri Ann as the living presence of the Holy Spirit.

Even I, who knew her but a little, know she is not done touching us. I look forward to hearing about sightings, stories about being “knocked up side the head,” maybe even seeing her myself. Jeri operates (yes, present tense) by her own God-given rhythm.

And we see her everyday in others, people whose lives were changed in amazing ways. Bubba, certainly, but also our dear Rev. Jane Nelson and soon-to-be Rev. Martha Pittenger, and not just clergy and church staff, but also faithful people like Bruce Boardman, Gloria Rosenberg, Anne and Caroline Cook-Rose, Sam Hockaday, Carol Anderson, and George Floyd.

That’s what giants do. They plant seeds and nurture them and grow them and watch the new shoots grow up strong and grace-filled.

We pray for healing and peace for the great love of her life, Rev. Elder Gill Storey, our former pastor, friend, and leader.

So, Jeri has fallen, but even as we mourn, the changed people—her “clowns”—she leaves make the day bright and life filled with joy.

Thank you, and bless you, Jeri.

Pastor Robin

P.S. If you don’t know Jeri, I encourage you to visit the website above and listen to her sermon from 1979, “Send in the Clowns.” Be prepared to be changed.

(replies welcome; write RevRobinG@MCCRichmond.org or call 804/353-9477)

Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey

by Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson

May 28, 2008

 

There was never any mistaking that voice, or the Bible raised high above her head, or the joy, passion and energy of her preaching – sometimes with such intensity that the perspiration would roll down her face and arms. Hers was the kind of soul-searing conviction that brings you right up out of your seat – it could also be the sweet, gentle story that soothed and comforted. There was that hearty, unmistakable laughter. And the way she said “Jesus.”

 

Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey was many things to many people – Pastor, Healer, Friend, Sister, Lover, Mother, Elder. She defined “butch” for many in her generation. She broke down barriers of gender and race. She was the first woman pastor of MCC Los Angeles; she was the first Native American MCC Elder.

 

Her prayers were “effectual” in a deeply, Biblical way. In a more frail state, more recently at the General Conference in Calgary in 2005, 500 people crammed into an upper room, and even when you could not hear her weak voice that night, you could feel her presence, the healing presence of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. To be around her was to expect miracles, and to receive them. Even her presence was healing.

 

I have so many memories of Jeri Ann - serving with her on the Board of Elders, hearing her preach and pray, laughing with her late at night after a long meeting.

 

Jeri  Ann loved. She loved women and men; she loved kids and puppies. She loved the freedom and the power of the gospel of Jesus that she heard and shared on so many continents through MCC. She loved good music, religious music. She loved a good story. She loved our MCC churches, members and pastors, in small or larger churches. She prayed with them, wept with them. She traveled all over the world; she wore herself out sometimes. She gave until it hurt, many times.

 

The stories of her life and ministry became our history.

 

She confronted the Ku Klux Klan in Texas.

 

She battled for civil rights in California.

 

And like so many of us in the 80’s and 90’s she did too many funerals. She buried too many friends - from HIV/AIDS, from breast cancer, from all the things that take too many too soon.

 

Jeri Ann Harvey preached hope and she lived hope. She endured a lot; she suffered and struggled a lot. Through it all, she was a fighter and a lover and an icon for many.

 

She loved Rev. Elder Gillian Storey, and was full of romance and playful friendship, right up to the end. We thank you Gill, for loving and caring for Jeri Ann with joy and faithfulness.

 

May her memory be for a blessing. May perpetual light shine upon her. May all that she was and offered be remembered and bear much fruit, in Jesus’ name.

 

Grace and peace,

 

+Nancy
Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson
Moderator, Metropolitan Community Churches

The First Time We Met

by Rev. Elder Troy Perry

The young woman literally pushed her way between us.

 

It was MCC’s 1974 General Conference in San Francisco; I was talking with an MCCer when the young woman stepped in between us, flashed a smile, and said, “Let a real butch belly up to the bar.”

 

That’s how I first met Jeri Ann Harvey – and she’s been making an impression on me, and thousands of others, ever since.

 

From that first moment, I felt a deep connection with Jeri Ann. We soon became colleagues; we quickly became the best of friends.

 

I am saddened that I will not see Jeri Ann again in this life, but there is a reunion that is yet to come in which we will again be reunited.

 

I know today that Jeri Ann Harvey rests in the arms of a loving God and that she will be there to greet us again some day, just inside the Eastern Gate.

 

In Christ,

 

The Rev. Troy D. Perry
Founder and Moderator Emeritus
Metropolitan Community Churches