The Rev. Dr. Robert Theodore McIlvenna was born on March 15, 1932, in Epping,
New Hampshire. At an early age, he moved with his family to the Pacific
Northwest where his father, an itinerant Methodist minister, was a missionary to
American Indians. McIlvenna started college at Millsaps College in Jackson,
Mississippi, on an athletic scholarship. After deciding to forego sports, he
returned to Oregon and Williamette College. Upon completing a B.A. degree in
sociology and philosophy in 1954, he was recruited to attend theological school
under a new Methodist program that selected persons of “special creative
ability” to be trained to serve the church.
After weighing career options as a YMCA executive, a safety engineer for the
state government, a professional baseball player, a physical therapist, or an
actor-singer, McIlvenna headed to Garrett Biblical Institute in Evanston,
Illinois. After an uncomfortable year in that traditional Christian environment,
he went to Europe to study systematic theology and philosophy of religion at the
University of Edinburgh and University of Florence. During this time he also
became an expert in art history. While in Europe he met and married Winnie
Ostergaard Sorensen from Denmark.
Upon his return to the U.S. in 1957, McIlvenna was sent to the Pacific School
of Religion in Berkeley, California, in order to obtain certification for
ordination as a Methodist minister. He became the pastor of Wesley Methodist
Church in Hayward, California, in 1958. Because of his interest and
expertise in social design, McIlvenna was recruited by the Rev. Lewis Durham to
join the staff of the Glide Foundation in downtown San Francisco in 1963. At
Glide he staffed the Young Adult Project where he developed programs to reach
out and meet the needs of young urban adults.
In his community outreach around Glide Church, McIlvenna became acquainted
with a number of homosexual persons and witnessed the violence and persecution
they often faced. He also got to know the leaders of a few organizations that
served the needs of gay and lesbian persons. In his efforts to help church
leaders understand homosexuality, McIlvenna secured the sponsorship of two
national Methodist agencies to convene a consultation of 30 clergy and
homosexual persons from May 31 to June 2, 1964, at the White Memorial Retreat
Center in Mill Valley, California.
The positive results of this retreat led the San Francisco participants–both
heterosexual clergy and homosexual activists–to organize the Council on Religion
and the Homosexual (CRH). McIlvenna became the first president and driving force
behind CRH in its initial period of development. CRH quickly attained a high
level of visibility–locally and nationally–because of its unique design as a
coalition of religious and homosexual leaders.
McIlvenna moved to Nashville in 1966 to provide leadership for a National
Young Adult Project for the Methodist Church. In his role as Director of Project
Development there, he was a key organizer and convener of the international
Consultation on Church, Society and the Homosexual in London, England, in August
1966.
Indicative of his growing interest in designing educational experiences
dealing with human sexuality, McIlvenna returned to San Francisco in 1968 to
become co-director of the National Sex and Drug Forum. In 1976, he helped
organize and became the first president of the Institute for Advanced Study of
Human Sexuality, where he has continued to work as professor of forensic
sexology.
Dr. McIlvenna has served as a consultant to several foundations in developing
programs and structures for alternative funding for voluntary organizations. He
has taught and lectured at many colleges and graduate schools, in addition to
speaking at conferences. He has written numerous journal articles and authored
seventeen and co-authored eight books. He has produced over 100 films and
videos, mostly about sex education. He has also received special awards for
several social projects that he designed.
In 1999, McIlvenna moved into retired status as a United Methodist clergy. He
is currently the curator of the Exodus Trust International Archives of the
Erotic Arts.
(This statement written by Mark Bowman from an interview with Dr. McIlvenna
on January 4, 2005, and a curriculum vitae and other biographical materials
provided.)