Queer Ancestor Spotlight: The Order of St. Aelred

Written By White Rose Witching

St. Aelred of Rievaulx was an English Cistercian monk born in Northumbria in 1110. He was a historian and spiritual writer. During his life he penned biographies such as Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor and his most famous book on spirituality De spiritali amicitia (“On Spiritual Friendship.”) There has been much speculation on St. Alelred’s sexuality, with very little evidence to verify any final answer, but this lack of proof has not stopped him from influencing a number of gay-friendly organizations including the Order of St. Aelred.

This Queer Ancestor Spotlight is a bit of a loophole. I’m using a deceased person - a saint, no less! - for who an organization is named after to discuss a really amazing and still living figure.

Fragment of illuminated medieval manuscript De Speculo Caritatis, in which appears Aelred of Rievaulx, circa 1140

The Order of St. Aelred was founded in 1995 in the Philippines by Bishop Richard McKinley. McKinley is currently Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of One Spirit Philippines, and founder and coordinator of healing ministries at The Well, an LGBT Center for the Healing of Spirituality and Sexuality. He felt a religious calling early in his life and entered the Brunnerdale Seminary in Canton, Ohio at the age of 13. He struggled with accepting the natural sexual impulses common during adolescence and for years experienced tremendous internal shame. As an early adult he was dismissed from seminary and counseled to find a wife. At the time McKinley thought his superiors meant the guilt and trauma he had around masturbation, but later realized he they suspected he was homosexual - which, ironically, ended up being true.

After serving with the United States Army in Korea, McKinley did marry and start a large family. He eventually reentered Catholic parish work and became the Director of Religious Education in Michigan. This role brought him through Detroit where he was first introduced to the thriving urban gay culture in the “big city.” After a short time, McKinley realized he was gay, divorced his wife, and joined the Gay Liberation Front barely a year after the Stonewall riots. Around this time Revered Troy Perry founded the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in California to bring spiritual comfort and liberation to gay and lesbian Christians. McKinley quickly became involved with the MCC and helped to bring their ministry into Detroit and Chicago. Through MCC, McKinley also became involved with prison ministry and spiritual publishing. He wrote and published the Prison Ministry Handbook which was adopted by MCC and many other denominations in the United States. He wrote and published his book, Christian Sexuality. And he edited the MCC’s magazine, In Unity.

After taking a break from ministry to earn a Master’s in Psychological Counseling and PhD in Clinical Psychology, McKinley was called back to the MCC and became pastor for their congregation in Auckland, New Zealand. After building out the infrastructure in Auckland, he traveled to the Philippines in 1991 to establish an MCC presence. He landed in Manila in May 1991 and just five weeks later, on June 26, held the first Gay and Lesbian Pride Mass in the Philippines at the Holy Child National Cathedral.

Bishop McKinley helped to make several firsts for the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines. When the MCC Manila congregation was established in September 1991 it was the first openly gay and lesbian organization in the country. MCC Manila co-partnered with a political activist group, Pro Gay Philippines, to create the first Gay and Lesbian Parade in not just the Philippines, but all of Asia. In 1995 he began performing same-sex wedding ceremonies of Holy Union before retiring due to MCC pastoral policy.

Bishop McKinley continued is ministry by establishing the Order of St. Aelred, designed to supplement and not compete with the ministry of the MCC. It was established as a religious order which accepts people of all genders and sexualities, and ordains both men and women. Per a flyer from Manila, the mission of the Order is:

“…to pray, study and work to promote a just and peaceful society, to live and teach the integration of spirituality and sexuality, to be fully human, enjoying life-enriching friendships, while bringing ourselves and others to a life in union with God.”

The Order are also heavily influenced by their interpretations of St. Aelred’s writings on charity and spiritual friendship, understandings of which fuel their work to create a world free from discrimination. They offer secular services such as a Gay Men’s Support Groups, same-sex couple’s groups for improving relationships, and workshops on health and wellness and sex-positive theology. The Order also offers religious and pastoral studies through the St. Aelred Religious Studies Institute (SARSI), seminary studies in St. Aelred Seminary (SAS) leading to ordination, officiating same-sex Holy Unions, and providing the opportunity to live a monastic life in St. Aelred Seminary.

The Order of St. Aelred was active as of 2020. Bishop Richard McKinley, now in his early 90’s, still lives in the Philippines

White Rose Witching
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