2005 - San Diego LGBTQ Wall of Honor Inductee
Rev. David Farrell, Pastor Emeritus, MCC San Diego, passed peacefully July 20, 2018. Please keep his husband of over 40 years, Gil Caldwell, in your prayers.
_________________________________
The Reverend David Farrell served the San Diego LGBT community as Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego for 20 years, providing a safe, caring environment where people could come for support in the early days of the LGBT civil rights movement and throughout the AIDS crisis.
Rev. Farrell, a San Diego native, graduated from St. Augustine Roman Catholic High School. He attended the University of San Diego's Roman Catholic seminary, but lost his direction from the ministry, due to alcoholism for a number of years. In 1970, he began attending MCCSD, where he started an LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous group called Alcoholics Together, and sang in the church choir. After a year of sobriety, he felt his calling to the ministry return. He spent four more years serving as a lay minister and studying Protestantism at Samaritan College before being selected as MCCSD's third pastor in 1975, following the Rev. John Paul Stevens, who was the first pastor, and Rev. Elder "Papa" John Hose, who was the second.
It was not unusual during the mid 1980s in San Diego's LGBT community to know dozens of people afflicted with the AIDS virus. From a pastor's perspective, the AIDS epidemic seemed like wartime; in Rev. Farrell's 300-member flock, he buried an average of fifteen young men a year who had died of the disease. There was an increasing demand for MCCSD's counseling and support services; a severe lack of government attention and medical funding caused members of the LGBT community to rely heavily on the church as a physical and emotional care center, which Rev. Farrell encouraged.
In 1985, frustrated with the absence of broad community response to the AIDS crisis, Rev. Farrell invited various community groups to participate on December 1st in a 50-hour prayer vigil and series of workshops with members of MCCSD. In 1986, the MCC denomination asked Rev.
Farrell to lead an international campaign to sponsor similar events in other Metropolitan Community Churches, as well as in mainline denominations. In that first event, more than 5,000 churches around the world held these 50-hour vigils. In 1988, the United Nations and the World Health Organization proclaimed December 1 of each year to be World AIDS Day.
At a time when many San Diego LGBT community members were in denial about the social decimation AIDS was wreak- ing on the community, Rev. Farrell and the MCCSD were criticized for dedicating so much time and funding to AIDS assistance. Asserting that he did not want a congregation "anesthetized behind stained-glass windows," Rev. Farrell started having Fireside chats in the sanctuary of MCCSD in 1989, encouraging people with HIV/AIDS, their spouses, family, friends and caregivers to attend. These meetings were a way to assess how the community was doing, and to offer whatever support or service was necessary to meet their needs.
As Senior Pastor, Rev. Farrell also helped unify the LGBT community into a political force. He was involved in raising awareness and gathering support in California for the fight against Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative. When he stepped down as Senior Pastor in 1995, the San Diego City Council declared December 3 to be "Reverend David Farrell Day" in San Diego for his twenty years of service to the MCC and to the citizens of San Diego.
After retirement, he became the manager of Internet Resources and Outreach Ministry at MCC denominational headquarters in West Hollywood, CA.
_________________________________
Rev. Dan Koeshall, MCCSD's current Senior Pastor shares these sentiments: "As I've said many times to Rev. David, I am forever grateful for the pioneer work he did in MCC and the San Diego LGBT Community. There are many of us who stand on Rev. David's shoulders as we continue the work of Spiritual Transformation, Inclusion, Social Action and Community. He will be missed."
According to MCC founder, Rev. Troy Perry, "After David retired as pastor of the church in San Diego, they moved in retirement to Palm Springs, California, where they've resided until now." Rev. Troy continues, "We considered David and Gil two of our closest friends. Please keep Gil in your thoughts and prayers."
"David was one of the pioneers of our movement. There are just so many stories. Phillip and I already miss him...the Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of God's saints." Thank you for your words, Rev. Troy.
The people of MCC San Diego are honored to host his Celebration of Life service as the congregation that he was instrumental in establishing as a stable ministry of the Gospel of Jesus to and through the LGBT and allied community.
Through his transformational preaching, visionary leadership, financial strategizing and exuberant faith, he laid the groundwork, spiritually and practically, for the strong witness of God's all inclusive love which we practice to this day.
We are currently collaborating with his husband and other key MCC leaders to select a date and time for us to honor his legacy, communally grieve, and celebrate the limitless testimonies of the impact of his life.
Please direct inquiries to Rev. Caedmon Grace, Minister of Congregational Life (through July 31st) or to Lee Bowman, Minister of Administration & Communications (beginning August 1).
Rev. David Farrell, Pastor Emeritus, MCC San Diego, passed peacefully July 20, 2018. Please keep his husband of over 40 years, Gil Caldwell, in your prayers.
_________________________________
The Reverend David Farrell served the San Diego LGBT community as Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego for 20 years, providing a safe, caring environment where people could come for support in the early days of the LGBT civil rights movement and throughout the AIDS crisis.
Rev. Farrell, a San Diego native, graduated from St. Augustine Roman Catholic High School. He attended the University of San Diego's Roman Catholic seminary, but lost his direction from the ministry, due to alcoholism for a number of years. In 1970, he began attending MCCSD, where he started an LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous group called Alcoholics Together, and sang in the church choir. After a year of sobriety, he felt his calling to the ministry return. He spent four more years serving as a lay minister and studying Protestantism at Samaritan College before being selected as MCCSD's third pastor in 1975, following the Rev. John Paul Stevens, who was the first pastor, and Rev. Elder "Papa" John Hose, who was the second.
It was not unusual during the mid 1980s in San Diego's LGBT community to know dozens of people afflicted with the AIDS virus. From a pastor's perspective, the AIDS epidemic seemed like wartime; in Rev. Farrell's 300-member flock, he buried an average of fifteen young men a year who had died of the disease. There was an increasing demand for MCCSD's counseling and support services; a severe lack of government attention and medical funding caused members of the LGBT community to rely heavily on the church as a physical and emotional care center, which Rev. Farrell encouraged.
In 1985, frustrated with the absence of broad community response to the AIDS crisis, Rev. Farrell invited various community groups to participate on December 1st in a 50-hour prayer vigil and series of workshops with members of MCCSD. In 1986, the MCC denomination asked Rev.
Farrell to lead an international campaign to sponsor similar events in other Metropolitan Community Churches, as well as in mainline denominations. In that first event, more than 5,000 churches around the world held these 50-hour vigils. In 1988, the United Nations and the World Health Organization proclaimed December 1 of each year to be World AIDS Day.
At a time when many San Diego LGBT community members were in denial about the social decimation AIDS was wreak- ing on the community, Rev. Farrell and the MCCSD were criticized for dedicating so much time and funding to AIDS assistance. Asserting that he did not want a congregation "anesthetized behind stained-glass windows," Rev. Farrell started having Fireside chats in the sanctuary of MCCSD in 1989, encouraging people with HIV/AIDS, their spouses, family, friends and caregivers to attend. These meetings were a way to assess how the community was doing, and to offer whatever support or service was necessary to meet their needs.
As Senior Pastor, Rev. Farrell also helped unify the LGBT community into a political force. He was involved in raising awareness and gathering support in California for the fight against Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative. When he stepped down as Senior Pastor in 1995, the San Diego City Council declared December 3 to be "Reverend David Farrell Day" in San Diego for his twenty years of service to the MCC and to the citizens of San Diego.
After retirement, he became the manager of Internet Resources and Outreach Ministry at MCC denominational headquarters in West Hollywood, CA.
_________________________________
Rev. Dan Koeshall, MCCSD's current Senior Pastor shares these sentiments: "As I've said many times to Rev. David, I am forever grateful for the pioneer work he did in MCC and the San Diego LGBT Community. There are many of us who stand on Rev. David's shoulders as we continue the work of Spiritual Transformation, Inclusion, Social Action and Community. He will be missed."
According to MCC founder, Rev. Troy Perry, "After David retired as pastor of the church in San Diego, they moved in retirement to Palm Springs, California, where they've resided until now." Rev. Troy continues, "We considered David and Gil two of our closest friends. Please keep Gil in your thoughts and prayers."
"David was one of the pioneers of our movement. There are just so many stories. Phillip and I already miss him...the Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of God's saints." Thank you for your words, Rev. Troy.
The people of MCC San Diego are honored to host his Celebration of Life service as the congregation that he was instrumental in establishing as a stable ministry of the Gospel of Jesus to and through the LGBT and allied community.
Through his transformational preaching, visionary leadership, financial strategizing and exuberant faith, he laid the groundwork, spiritually and practically, for the strong witness of God's all inclusive love which we practice to this day.
We are currently collaborating with his husband and other key MCC leaders to select a date and time for us to honor his legacy, communally grieve, and celebrate the limitless testimonies of the impact of his life.
Please direct inquiries to Rev. Caedmon Grace, Minister of Congregational Life (through July 31st) or to Lee Bowman, Minister of Administration & Communications (beginning August 1).
2005 - San Diego LGBTQ Wall of Honor Inductee
Rev. David Farrell, Pastor Emeritus, MCC San Diego, passed peacefully July 20, 2018. Please keep his husband of over 40 years, Gil Caldwell, in your prayers.
_________________________________
The Reverend David Farrell served the San Diego LGBT community as Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego for 20 years, providing a safe, caring environment where people could come for support in the early days of the LGBT civil rights movement and throughout the AIDS crisis.
Rev. Farrell, a San Diego native, graduated from St. Augustine Roman Catholic High School. He attended the University of San Diego's Roman Catholic seminary, but lost his direction from the ministry, due to alcoholism for a number of years. In 1970, he began attending MCCSD, where he started an LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous group called Alcoholics Together, and sang in the church choir. After a year of sobriety, he felt his calling to the ministry return. He spent four more years serving as a lay minister and studying Protestantism at Samaritan College before being selected as MCCSD's third pastor in 1975, following the Rev. John Paul Stevens, who was the first pastor, and Rev. Elder "Papa" John Hose, who was the second.
It was not unusual during the mid 1980s in San Diego's LGBT community to know dozens of people afflicted with the AIDS virus. From a pastor's perspective, the AIDS epidemic seemed like wartime; in Rev. Farrell's 300-member flock, he buried an average of fifteen young men a year who had died of the disease. There was an increasing demand for MCCSD's counseling and support services; a severe lack of government attention and medical funding caused members of the LGBT community to rely heavily on the church as a physical and emotional care center, which Rev. Farrell encouraged.
In 1985, frustrated with the absence of broad community response to the AIDS crisis, Rev. Farrell invited various community groups to participate on December 1st in a 50-hour prayer vigil and series of workshops with members of MCCSD. In 1986, the MCC denomination asked Rev.
Farrell to lead an international campaign to sponsor similar events in other Metropolitan Community Churches, as well as in mainline denominations. In that first event, more than 5,000 churches around the world held these 50-hour vigils. In 1988, the United Nations and the World Health Organization proclaimed December 1 of each year to be World AIDS Day.
At a time when many San Diego LGBT community members were in denial about the social decimation AIDS was wreak- ing on the community, Rev. Farrell and the MCCSD were criticized for dedicating so much time and funding to AIDS assistance. Asserting that he did not want a congregation "anesthetized behind stained-glass windows," Rev. Farrell started having Fireside chats in the sanctuary of MCCSD in 1989, encouraging people with HIV/AIDS, their spouses, family, friends and caregivers to attend. These meetings were a way to assess how the community was doing, and to offer whatever support or service was necessary to meet their needs.
As Senior Pastor, Rev. Farrell also helped unify the LGBT community into a political force. He was involved in raising awareness and gathering support in California for the fight against Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative. When he stepped down as Senior Pastor in 1995, the San Diego City Council declared December 3 to be "Reverend David Farrell Day" in San Diego for his twenty years of service to the MCC and to the citizens of San Diego.
After retirement, he became the manager of Internet Resources and Outreach Ministry at MCC denominational headquarters in West Hollywood, CA.
_________________________________
Rev. Dan Koeshall, MCCSD's current Senior Pastor shares these sentiments: "As I've said many times to Rev. David, I am forever grateful for the pioneer work he did in MCC and the San Diego LGBT Community. There are many of us who stand on Rev. David's shoulders as we continue the work of Spiritual Transformation, Inclusion, Social Action and Community. He will be missed."
According to MCC founder, Rev. Troy Perry, "After David retired as pastor of the church in San Diego, they moved in retirement to Palm Springs, California, where they've resided until now." Rev. Troy continues, "We considered David and Gil two of our closest friends. Please keep Gil in your thoughts and prayers."
"David was one of the pioneers of our movement. There are just so many stories. Phillip and I already miss him...the Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of God's saints." Thank you for your words, Rev. Troy.
The people of MCC San Diego are honored to host his Celebration of Life service as the congregation that he was instrumental in establishing as a stable ministry of the Gospel of Jesus to and through the LGBT and allied community.
Through his transformational preaching, visionary leadership, financial strategizing and exuberant faith, he laid the groundwork, spiritually and practically, for the strong witness of God's all inclusive love which we practice to this day.
We are currently collaborating with his husband and other key MCC leaders to select a date and time for us to honor his legacy, communally grieve, and celebrate the limitless testimonies of the impact of his life.
Please direct inquiries to Rev. Caedmon Grace, Minister of Congregational Life (through July 31st) or to Lee Bowman, Minister of Administration & Communications (beginning August 1).
Rev. David Farrell, Pastor Emeritus, MCC San Diego, passed peacefully July 20, 2018. Please keep his husband of over 40 years, Gil Caldwell, in your prayers.
_________________________________
The Reverend David Farrell served the San Diego LGBT community as Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego for 20 years, providing a safe, caring environment where people could come for support in the early days of the LGBT civil rights movement and throughout the AIDS crisis.
Rev. Farrell, a San Diego native, graduated from St. Augustine Roman Catholic High School. He attended the University of San Diego's Roman Catholic seminary, but lost his direction from the ministry, due to alcoholism for a number of years. In 1970, he began attending MCCSD, where he started an LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous group called Alcoholics Together, and sang in the church choir. After a year of sobriety, he felt his calling to the ministry return. He spent four more years serving as a lay minister and studying Protestantism at Samaritan College before being selected as MCCSD's third pastor in 1975, following the Rev. John Paul Stevens, who was the first pastor, and Rev. Elder "Papa" John Hose, who was the second.
It was not unusual during the mid 1980s in San Diego's LGBT community to know dozens of people afflicted with the AIDS virus. From a pastor's perspective, the AIDS epidemic seemed like wartime; in Rev. Farrell's 300-member flock, he buried an average of fifteen young men a year who had died of the disease. There was an increasing demand for MCCSD's counseling and support services; a severe lack of government attention and medical funding caused members of the LGBT community to rely heavily on the church as a physical and emotional care center, which Rev. Farrell encouraged.
In 1985, frustrated with the absence of broad community response to the AIDS crisis, Rev. Farrell invited various community groups to participate on December 1st in a 50-hour prayer vigil and series of workshops with members of MCCSD. In 1986, the MCC denomination asked Rev.
Farrell to lead an international campaign to sponsor similar events in other Metropolitan Community Churches, as well as in mainline denominations. In that first event, more than 5,000 churches around the world held these 50-hour vigils. In 1988, the United Nations and the World Health Organization proclaimed December 1 of each year to be World AIDS Day.
At a time when many San Diego LGBT community members were in denial about the social decimation AIDS was wreak- ing on the community, Rev. Farrell and the MCCSD were criticized for dedicating so much time and funding to AIDS assistance. Asserting that he did not want a congregation "anesthetized behind stained-glass windows," Rev. Farrell started having Fireside chats in the sanctuary of MCCSD in 1989, encouraging people with HIV/AIDS, their spouses, family, friends and caregivers to attend. These meetings were a way to assess how the community was doing, and to offer whatever support or service was necessary to meet their needs.
As Senior Pastor, Rev. Farrell also helped unify the LGBT community into a political force. He was involved in raising awareness and gathering support in California for the fight against Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative. When he stepped down as Senior Pastor in 1995, the San Diego City Council declared December 3 to be "Reverend David Farrell Day" in San Diego for his twenty years of service to the MCC and to the citizens of San Diego.
After retirement, he became the manager of Internet Resources and Outreach Ministry at MCC denominational headquarters in West Hollywood, CA.
_________________________________
Rev. Dan Koeshall, MCCSD's current Senior Pastor shares these sentiments: "As I've said many times to Rev. David, I am forever grateful for the pioneer work he did in MCC and the San Diego LGBT Community. There are many of us who stand on Rev. David's shoulders as we continue the work of Spiritual Transformation, Inclusion, Social Action and Community. He will be missed."
According to MCC founder, Rev. Troy Perry, "After David retired as pastor of the church in San Diego, they moved in retirement to Palm Springs, California, where they've resided until now." Rev. Troy continues, "We considered David and Gil two of our closest friends. Please keep Gil in your thoughts and prayers."
"David was one of the pioneers of our movement. There are just so many stories. Phillip and I already miss him...the Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of God's saints." Thank you for your words, Rev. Troy.
The people of MCC San Diego are honored to host his Celebration of Life service as the congregation that he was instrumental in establishing as a stable ministry of the Gospel of Jesus to and through the LGBT and allied community.
Through his transformational preaching, visionary leadership, financial strategizing and exuberant faith, he laid the groundwork, spiritually and practically, for the strong witness of God's all inclusive love which we practice to this day.
We are currently collaborating with his husband and other key MCC leaders to select a date and time for us to honor his legacy, communally grieve, and celebrate the limitless testimonies of the impact of his life.
Please direct inquiries to Rev. Caedmon Grace, Minister of Congregational Life (through July 31st) or to Lee Bowman, Minister of Administration & Communications (beginning August 1).
Inscription
A2C USAF Korea - Beloved Pastor Brother and Husband
Beloved Pastor, Brother and Husband
Gravesite Details
David's ashes have been placed here in this columbarium.
