Pride Shabbat Service

26 Jul @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

In conjunction with Fort Wayne Pride activities, we’ll celebrate Pride Shabbat on Friday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m., led by Rabbi Meir Bargeron, with readings and prayers inspired by the LGBTQ+ experience.

Please join us in person or on YouTube as we recognize the importance of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion. An Oneg Shabbat reception will follow. We warmly welcome guests.

Our guest speaker is the Rev. John Tolley, who for 16 years was the minister of drama at First Presbyterian Church, focusing on performances that raised social issues. He moved from Fort Wayne in 1989, living in Tennessee, New Jersey, and Connecticut before becoming a professor of ministry in the arts at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago.

After retiring, he moved back to Fort Wayne in 2016 with his husband, Richard.  

A self-described humanist minister, Rev. Tolley also is a “human book” as part of the Human Library project at the Allen County Public Library. He is the affiliated community minister at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fort Wayne.

A Crawfordsville native, Rev. Tolley graduated from the University of Indianapolis (formerly Indiana Central University). He earned a master’s degree in Religious Communications from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and a PhD in Educational Theater from New York University.