The Holy City has no shortage of looming church crosses, but the one above St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Anson Street is different.
For almost 34 years, the cross, which tilted to the right after being damaged by a hurricane, was too expensive to fix. But in 2023, when the parish finally had the funds for a renovation, they installed a brand-new — and still crooked — one in its place.
“We want everybody in town to realize you don’t have to be straight in order to be there,” said Wayne Helmly, director of music and organist at St. Stephen’s. “And a crooked cross tells that quicker than anything else.”
The parish’s chamber music series returns to Piccolo Spoleto on June 8 with “The Rainbow Connection: Music by LGBTQ+ Composers.”
A history of open doors
St. Stephen’s has long done things differently. Founded in the early 19th century by three women, it was built for poor, unwed pregnant women, and later became home to Black and LGBTQ+ communities. It was the country’s first ever free church, a tradition of radical welcome that continues today.
“Our history is not only unique in Charleston — it’s not only unique in South Carolina,” said Helmly. “It’s unique in the Episcopal Church nationwide.”
Its chamber music series holds shows two or three times per year, always open to the public.
“The Rainbow Connection,” which premiered in November, was a hit, making it an obvious choice for submission to Piccolo.
The selections in it span nearly two centuries. “It’s everybody that you can think of that would be an LGBTQ+ composer,” Helmly said. “I mean, from Tchaikovsky to Lady Gaga and pretty much everybody in between.”
Work outside of the church
Local drag icon Patti O’Furniture will again host the event. A performer for 25 years and two-time winner of the Charleston City Paper’s “Best Drag Queen” award, she said St. Stephen’s is a place of true acceptance, with work that extends beyond weekly services.
“They are not just an 11-to-12-on-Sunday-morning kind of organization,” said O’Furniture. “They practice what they preach.”
O’Furniture, although not a member, has worshipped and attended numerous events at St. Stephen’s. In fact, it was the first church she visited when she moved to Charleston. As a Methodist unfamiliar with the Episcopalian order of worship, she immediately felt welcomed.
Since its inception, the congregation has participated in the Charleston Pride Parade and makes up the largest walking group almost every year.
A rainbow of congregants
O’Furniture, who also emceed the “Rainbow Connection” debut in November, recalled a room overflowing with joy.
“There were ages, gender expressions, every skin color I could think of. It was like a Crayola box in there,” she said. “And smiles. Everyone was happy and enjoying themselves.”
Sunday’s performance will include solos, duets, quartets and full ensemble pieces featuring vocalists, piano and woodwinds. Helmly estimates that about 80% of the performers belong to the LGBTQ+ community, and an even larger majority are regular parish members.
“When people hear ‘chamber music,’ I’m worried that they think they have to sit in their chair and give a little golf clap, as if they’re at the Masters or something. This is a lot of fun music,” said O’Furniture. “It is not a stuffy experience.”
The Rainbow Connection is more than a concert. It’s part of the church’s mission.
“For many of us, we find God and the Holy Spirit in music itself,” said Helmly. “We believe that it’s a way to spread God’s love.”
O’Furniture hopes guests leave “a little smarter, a little wiser, a little more informed about these queer composers, about these works of music and about what a wonderful place St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: “Rainbow Connection: Music by LGBTQ+ Composers,” 5 p.m. June 8, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 67 Anson St. Free.
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