In 1988, the first National Coming Out Day was held to honor the anniversary of the October 11,1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, when 500,000 people assembled. Since that time, each October has served as a time to acknowledge and celebrate queer visibility. This Sunday, the Rev. Cecil Prescod will lead us in examining how we might extend our welcome and provide a safe place for all members of the queer community.
The Rev. Cecil Charles Prescod is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a brother in the Order of Corpus Christi, an evangelical catholic religious order. Cecil serves as Minister of Faith Formation at Ainsworth United Church of Christ in Portland, OR.
He holds a B.A in Philosophy from Haverford College (PA), and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Cecil has been active in social justice issues since his youth. Among the organizations that he has worked with are Ministers for Racial Social and Economic Justice (MRSJ) and United Black Christians in the United Church of Christ, Mackenzie River Gathering Foundation, the Urban League of Portland, Public Policy Committee of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Love Makes A Family, Inc, Brother to Brother, the American Friends Service Committee, KBOO Radio, and PFLAG Portland Black Chapter. the Urban League of Portland, and PFLAG-Portland Black Chapter.
In 2002 Cecil received the Russell Peyton Human Rights Award from the Metropolitan Human Rights Center. In 2012 Cecil was recognized as one of the Queer Heroes NW by the Q Center and the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).
