The Shower of Stoles

All of the currently digitized stoles are exhibited on this page, in alphabetical order by first letter. Sadly, not all of the stoles we have records of have been photographed. Those currently unphotographed stoles are represented by text captions and titles. The LGBTQ Religious Archives Network and the National LGBTQ Task Force currently hope to have the remaining stoles, now housed in Washington D.C., in the next couple of years as a long-term digitization project. 

You may click on all of the alphabetized stoles, photographed or otherwise, in order to read the stoles' stories and check out more pictures and historical commentary. The historical commentary is generally written by either Martha Juillerat, the founder of the Shower of Stoles, or David Lohman, a long-time curator of the Shower of Stoles.

As you read a stole's narrative, meditate on the life, or lives, the stole represents. To quote Martha Juillerat, "Holding these stoles in our hands was like holding a person's life." As you read and reflect, we hope you feel the grace, courage, sadness, joy, anger, and hope of all of the stoles' donors. 

The first eighty stoles Martha Juillerat and Tammy Lindahl received - the eighty stoles that accompanied them and lent them solace as they set aside their ordinations - are highlighted in the slideshow video below. 

Browse All Stoles