"Banner Year" Testimony: Lana Olmer

We first came to St. John's after running into The Rev. Kathleen Moore at the Montclair Holiday Stroll. She mentioned they were looking for a baby Jesus for the Christmas nativity and asked if our daughter might play the part. The fact that they would invite a baby with two moms to represent Jesus was such a beautiful act of inclusion, I couldn't say no.

That invitation captured what St. John's is all about. For the past two years, we have felt nothing but warmth and genuine welcome here. When we make it to services on Sunday, people greet us with smiles and encouragement. When our daughter was baptized, the joy in the room was palpable. And in harder seasons, like when I was going through IVF again and coping with disappointment, this has been a place where I could sit quietly under the stained-glass window that reads "Faithfulness" and feel held even in moments of deep sadness and grief.

One moment I will never forget was meeting Rev. Kathleen for coffee at Arizmendi soon after our daughter was born. I apologized for not making it to services as often, and she simply said, "It doesn't matter how often you come, you're part of our community." I nearly cried. That sentence sums up what St. John's means to me: belonging that doesn't need to be earned.

My wife plays on the church softball team, and we have even hosted the end-of-season party at our house. It is those small, joyful connections that make this place feel like home. St. John's has given us a place to celebrate milestones, to find spiritual grounding, and to show up fully as ourselves—as a queer family, as parents, and as people of faith.

If I could hang a banner for St. John's, it would read: You are welcome here. Really.

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