By Staff
September 8th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
At a time when hate crimes are on the rise in Halton Region, five local churches are cooperating to host Considering Matthew Shepard – a performance based on the life and diaries of a young gay man who suffered and was killed in a hate crime.
This moving event will contribute to the ongoing awareness around issues and concerns facing LGBTQ+ youth. It will provide an opportunity for healing and reconciliation between and among marginalized groups and the wider community.
Port Nelson United Church
This event is being offered to the public free of charge by the combined sponsorship of five welcoming, affirming and inclusive local churches who believe in an open community of faith, that welcome everyone. Together, these congregations strive to make Halton a community that embraces diversity – differences of age, mental and physical health and ability, religious background, marital status, family structure, sexual orientation, gender and its expression, racial and cultural identity, educational and socioeconomic status, and more. All are always welcome at Port Nelson United Church, Burlington Baptist Church, St. Christopher’s Anglican, Grace United Church and St. Paul’s United Church!
About Considering Matthew Shepard
Craig Hella Johnson’s three-part oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard, will be performed in Burlington by the renowned Elora Singers, one of the finest chamber choirs in Canada. It is a fusion of musical styles, of poetry and prose, drawing from the events, the rural Wyoming setting, and from Matthew’s own notebooks.
• DATE: Friday September 23rd, 2022
• PLACE: Port Nelson United Church, 3132 South Drive, Burlington, ON
• TIME: 7:30 p.m.
• COST: Free admission. If you are able, donations are accepted in advance or at the event in support of the Pflag Canada.
• DETAILS: https://consideringmatthewshepard.my.canva.site/
“…strung on a fence outside of town in Laramie, Wyoming,”
About Matthew Shepard
On a cold night, October 6, 1998, in a hateful homophobic act, 21-year-old gay university student Matthew Shepard was kidnapped, beaten, and strung on a fence outside of town in Laramie, Wyoming, a place he had lived and loved. He was found by a cyclist the next morning and died of his injuries several days later. The public outpouring of grief for the tragic end to Matthew’s life was scarred by the sickening protests of hate group, Westboro Baptist Church. Years later, Matthew’s name would be associated with changes to U.S. laws concerning hate crimes associated with homophobia.
Some 20 years after the event, Matthew’s life, death, and the questions of humanity they evoke inspired composer Craig Hella Johnson to compose a three-part oratorio, Considering Matthew Shepard. It is a fusion of musical styles, of poetry and prose, drawing from the events, the rural Wyoming setting, and from Matthew’s own notebooks. It merges the personal with the universal, life with death, ugliness with beauty, and seeks hope from what was a tragedy without redemptive purpose.
