Welcome to Ray of Hope
Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.
Southern Tier Extension Chapel Page

Updated June 3, 2023

The Congregation owns the property at 380 W. First Street in Elmira, NY 14901 

We are the original Church in the Southern Tier to openly welcome everyone, including persons of all social classes, any kind of family, all ethnicities, sexual orientations, and gender expressions.
God welcomes you and so do we.

 

We never held a vote to decide if we would be an INCLUSIVE church for you.

We are not an OPEN AND AFFIRMING church for you.

We are not a RECONCILING CHURCH or

RECONCILING  CONGREGATION for you.

We are not an OPEN MINDED or ACCEPTING or WELCOMING

church where you can attend as long as you blend in quietly and discretely.

WE  ARE  YOU!

THIS is the church where YOU belong.

Ray Of Hope Church is the church

by YOU, for YOU, and made by You.

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF MINISTRY IN CENTRAL NEW YORK

Celebrating Twenty-seven Years in the Southern Tier

 ** ELMIRA SCHEDULE **

Worship on SUNDAY morning 10:30 in person and on Skype

Bible Enrichment Sessions Tuesday Nights 6:30 - 8:00 PM in person and on Skype

We opened our Chapel on June 1, 2003.  This was the first Sunday of Pride Month in 2003.  This is a picture of the front of the building in 2003.

 

In 2014 we received a very generous gift and were able to make the monastery and chapel accessible to persons of all abilities.  Here is what the front of the building looks like today with the porch and wheelchair elevator, and two new sets of cement staircases on the front of the exterior.

 

 

In both of these recent pictures (June, 2016) one of the five straight women who started the Southern Tier Extension in 1996, Jane Mc Dermott, is seen in her wheelchair on the new accessible porch.  Jane is 79 years old and still very proud to be a Member of Ray Of Hope Church and one of the foundresses of the Southern Tier Extension.  Pictured with Jane are two of her Personal Assistants - Philip and Logan who worked with her in the Spring of 2016.  Logan Wenzel is also the professional Computer Science major who reformatted our previous version of the web site into the platform we are using now.

 

 

 

In these two pictures taken in May of 2016 the special outdoor elevator is easily visible.

 

 

 

 

When you come into the building, use the small door to the far right, seen here.

 

 

Exterior picture in 2003

380 W. First St. in Elmira is the Parsonage/Rectory/Monastery of the Southern Tier Extension. 
We have a beautiful chapel at the Monastery open to the public for private prayer seven days a week.

This is what the chapel looked like in 2003 when we first opened.

 

One of the most beautiful and most memorable features of the chapel is the original painting on the floor of the circular rainbow and the Jerusalem Cross forming a medallion in the center of the room.  This original painting was designed and painted by Pamela Wenck.  Pam practiced drawing the artwork and discovering all the mathematical formulas in the Jerusalem Cross.  Her design is flawless.  We are forever grateful to Pam for her outstanding artwork in this chapel.

 

 

Today, 2015 the chapel changes with every season of the Church Year.

This picture is from Holy Week, 2015

Everyone is welcome to come in and spend time praying in the chapel of the Monastery. There are booklets near the front entrance to help you with your prayer and meditation. You are welcome to bring a book or your Bible and sit and read and pray in the chapel. When the door is unlocked you may come in.

One reason we keep silence in the chapel is Jesus Christ is especially present in the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Communion reserved for prayer inside the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is in the front left corner of the chapel under the picture of Jesus and the open Bible. The Tabernacle can be seen twenty-four hours a day from the street through our beautiful large windows across the front of the parsonage. Often times people who are passing by stop, face the Tabernacle, make the sign of the cross, or stand and close their eyes and pray. It is very moving to see people take a moment out of their day to acknowledge Christ present in our lives and in our world.

This is a picture of what the Tabernacle area looked like in 2003.

Here are some pictures of the Tabernacle area today.  Please come in and use the kneelers and offer your prayers.

This is Christmas 2014

Notice the beautiful pulpit in this picture.  This is the original pulpit from the original St. Mary's Church in Horseheads, NY when it was on lower Broad Street.  We received this gift in 2014.  It was given to us by Lisa Frost.  Lisa had dedicated the pulpit in thanksgiving and in memory of her parents, Martha and Burton Cummings, and in honor of Aja Lee Merritt who passed away on April 20, 2015 at the age of 23.  Aja is the cousin of Crystal Nye who is a Personal Assistant here with Jane at the monastery and a good friend of our congregation.

 

This is Advent, Week I in 2014

 

This picture was taken 6-24-16.  We should also tell you these kneelers were from the former Dominican Monastery in Elmira, NY.  The Sisters who lived there prayed two women at a time 24 hours a day for the 40 years they were in Elmira on these very kneelers.  These are the kneelers that were used for perpetual adoration of Jesus truly present in the Most Holy Blessed Sacrament, the Bread Of Life and the Cup Of Salvation.  We are very honored to have these kneelers and to be reminded of the years of service and devotion they represent.  You can feel in the top pads where these women pressed their elbows and in the bottom pads where their knees pressed into the foam as they prayed for all of us all those years.

The Tabernacle is marked by the "PX" symbol. The "PX" symbol is a monogram of the Holy Name of Christ which is spelled xpistos in Greek, the original language of the Christian Testament. 
(spelled here with English letters that sound like the Greek letters).

This picture is from 2003

A red candle burns near  the Tabernacle, mounted to the wall, twenty-four hours a day to remind us of the constant presence of Christ 
who promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age.

This picture is also from 2003

Here is what the Tabernacle Light of Presence looks like in 2015

 

In 2015 Christina Benedict purchased a print of a modern sculpture dating from 1980 by Claude Gruer, depicting Christ giving the first Eucharist.  The original sculpture is on the Main Altar in Saint-Samson cathedral, Brittany, France.  Christina dedicated this print in memory of her Mother, Eva May Mills who passed away this year.  Sometimes during the year you will see this print in the Tabernacle area.

The Bible is also on display at all times and lit with a light. The Bible can be clearly seen from the street. We display the Bible as our witness that we believe the Word Of God is one of God's greatest gifts to all people. It is only through the reading and meditation on Sacred Scriptures that we can be set free from the myths and lies of racism, sexism, homophobia, gender bias, ageism, misogny (silent prejudice against women), anti-Semitism, and all forms of oppression. We love the Word Of God. Contrary to popular opinion the Bible does not condemn us, but it does set us free from denominational dogmas of those persons who do condemn us.


When you enter the chapel at the Parsonage you will see an artistic carving reminding us that Jesus was resurrected by God and is seated now at God's right hand making intercession for us. Jesus is now serving the Church as our one and only High Priest, the Chief Shepherd Of Souls. The carving shows him ascending to Paradise, but the Cross and the palms are right behind Him reminding us that our victory and our own resurrections are made possible only by the suffering 
Jesus endured for us.

The resurrection cross is standing above the holy water font. In this dish is kept holy water (water set apart) to remind us of our baptism. Some people like to touch their fingers into the water and make the sign of the cross to reaffirm their own baptismal promises to be faithful to God until we are all safely in God's Kingdom.

A lamp is often seen at night in our window. It lights up the street in front of the Parsonage. It reminds us to keep our hearts watching and waiting for the return of Christ for His Church. Notice the beautiful rainbow cross colored glass art piece made for us. It often reflects a beautiful rainbow on the wall behind the cross.

Pictured here in 2003

 

This is what the exit door looks like today, 6-24-16

 

Above the rainbow cross is the medal of St. Benedict, front and back.  Just over the light switch is print of the painting "Lamb of God" by Nathan Greene.  What is so noticeable in this painting is Jesus is holding a black sheep.  The black sheep is an image LGBTQIS persons are often familiar with.  Here we see Jesus loving the black sheep.  This print was given to the church by Larry Kelly.

 

 

One of the great advantages to having our own chapel at the Parsonage is we can hold special worship services and devotionals. We haven't been able to do this when renting space from other organizations. Here is a picture of the Blessed Sacrament the monstrance, a vessel designed to hold up the blessed Communion Bread, the Eucharist, to display it for private prayer. The word monstrance is from the Latin word monstra, meaning to show. We are able to display the Blessed Sacrament for long periods of time and open the chapel to the public. People from all walks of life take time to come in and sit quietly in the presence of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Sometimes we hold the worship service called Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
2003

 

Here is another of our monstrances.  This one was added in 2016.

 

 

This picture is from Holy Thursday night adoration March 20, 2008.  This is another of our monstrances, a more traditional one.

 

 

Some days we just set the Blessed Sacrament out for adoration.  We did this on May 12, 2016 and this is how it all looked.

 

We also hold devotionals such as The Stations Of The Cross, Morning or Evening Prayer (Divine Office), special music and worship nights, and much more as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Another great feature of our Monastery is our Library. 

The Library is dedicated to St. Benedict of Nursia (480 - 542 A.D.). St. Benedict is known as the "Father of Western Monasticism" and "The Patron of the West." One of the great contributions St. Benedict made to Western Christianity is fervor for preservation of the record of God's work in this world through the preservation of materials in libraries. The St. Benedict Memorial Library has over 8,000 volumes at this time. 

The library specializes in Premillennial theology, Western Theology, Church History, Gay - Lesbian - Bisexual - Multigender Theology - His/herstory - and culture. 

Special collections include Biblical languages, worship materials from most denominations of the Western church.

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While the St. Benedict Memorial Library is not a lending library it is available to the public for use when the Parsonage is open or by special appointment.

 

How did Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ come to the Southern Tier? In July of 1996 a letter of interest was sent from the Council of Ray Of Hope Church to a group of persons in the Elmira, Horseheads, Corning, Beaver Dams, and Watkins Glen communities who had expressed interest in our ministry. The invitation was accepted in August 1996 and the first worship service was held on September 14, 1996, the Feast of the Triumph Of The Cross, also the anniversary of the day St. Francis of Assisi received the Stigmata. 

The worship services and Bible studies have been held in private homes all throughout the Southern Tier as well as in two taverns - The David (now Angles) (no longer in business) and The Body Shop (also no longer in business). Worship services have been held in the following homes: M.D., Beaver Dams; Betty Goodrich (Foundress), Painted Post; Martha Cummings (Foundress), Corning; Nora Jane Mc Dermott and Margaret E. Walker (Foundresses), Horseheads; S.H., Elmira; S.B., Elmira; and now in the Parsonage/Rectory/Monastery , the home of our pastor Rev. Br. Shawn F. Benedict, O.S.B.

The parsonage at 380 W. 1st Street is the first property owned by an institution of the GLBTQS community in the Southern Tier. This beautiful place was given to us by the previous owner Mrs. Jeanne Frasier in December, 2001.

 

Pictured here is Mr. Kenneth, and Mrs. Jeanne Frasier and their son David the evening the family gave the keys of the building to the worship community of Ray Of Hope Church Southern Tier Extension. 

Pastor Benedict celebrates with the Frasier family.

 

A celebration of prayer and joy was held in the building the night the Frasier family gave us the keys.

Our congregation is eternally grateful to the Frasier family for their generous gift. This building was lovingly cared for by Mr. Kenneth Frasier. Mr. Frasier did beautiful work with all the interior decorations as he made this a beautiful dress shop for his wife, Mrs. Jeanne Frasier.

There were miracles associated with our receiving this building.
During the December 25 worship service in the year 2000 a beautiful cross appeared on our small table cloth that sits under the Chalice during the distribution of Holy Communion. Those who were present testify the cloth was perfectly clean, in fact brand new at the start of the worship service. Here is a picture taken one week after the worship service. 

This was the worship service where we were celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the Incarnation of God into humanity as the Divine Son. At the time it seemed logical that God was giving us an actual manifestation of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The idea that a congregation founded and fostered by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Heterosexual persons working together would receive a EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE seemed shocking when compared to the constant condemnations we hear from other denominations. We decided to stay quiet and humble about it, and not call the media and risk making a spectacle of this miracle. 
Here is a close up of that first Eucharistic Miracle from December 25, 2000.

Here is a picture of what it looked like in the summer of 2001.
The container holding the folded cloth that has the cross on it is also called a monstrance 
(from the Latin "monstra" to show).

October, 2001 we were celebrating the Feast Of St. Francis Of Assisi (October 4) on October 7, the closest Sunday to October 4. We were renting space from Trexx video and dance club in downtown Syracuse. Right there at the tavern dance floor we had a second EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE. This time two crosses appeared. One was larger than the other. Here is a picture of the second Eucharistic Miracle in a monstrance as it looked in July of 2003. 


Again, the Congregation wanted to know why this was happening to us. There seemed to be an immediate connection between the two Eucharistic Miracles. St. Francis is responsible for giving us the tradition of setting up the Manger scene in our homes during the season of the Nativity (Christmas). The first Eucharistic Miracle came on Christmas night 2000 and the second one on our celebration of the Feast Of St. Francis Of Assisi the following October, 2001. St. Francis loved the Holy Eucharist and often made better provisions for its care in the local churches he visited. Therefore, there seemed to be a "Franciscan" connection in what God was saying to us.

One Eucharistic Miracle in the life of any church is beyond words, and almost unheard of, but now we had two Eucharistic Miracles.

We tell you all this because it was between the night of the second Eucharistic Miracle, October 7, 2001, and the anniversary of the first one (December 25, 2000) that our Congregation received custody of our two buildings, the future homes of our worship centers and monasteries. It was December, 2001 when the Frasier family donated their property to Ray Of Hope. The Deed was signed in time for Gaudete Sunday, rejoice Sunday, the pink candle - the third Sunday - on the Advent Wreath, when we celebrate Pride Sunday in the Winter. Then if all this wasn't more than enough, a second donation was received in Syracuse the same month and a mortgage enabled us to purchase our building at 748 N. Salina St. By the anniversary of the first Eucharistic Miracle, we had been led by the Holy Spirit to generous people who made it possible for Ray Of Hope Church to own property. 

Now the meaning of the two crosses was very clear. We would be receiving two building between the Feast Of St. Francis (2nd Miracle) and Nativity (Christmas) night (anniversary of the 1st Miracle). Further, notice the larger cross is at the top and slightly to the right and the smaller cross lower and to the left just about where they would be for the cities of Syracuse and Elmira New York on a New York State map. Further, St. Francis had been quietly involved from the start of the Southern Tier Extension since the first worship service held in the Southern Tier Extension in 1996 was in fact on the anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the Stigmata, the Feast of the Triumph Of The Cross. The date of that worship service was not intentionally planned for this Franciscan feast. In fact, it wasn't pointed out to us until we were reviewing the records in September, 2003 at the time of the anniversary. We had not even paid attention to the significance of the date in 1996. Now it was very significant. 

So, it definitely seems St. Francis of Assisi has been praying for our Congregation and helping us along. It makes perfect sense because in his lifetime Francis learned to welcome all people and to see the living Christ in everyone. St. Francis loved all the people the society and the "Church" of his day rejected. This is the mission of Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ as well, "to guide and welcome all people to the Free Gift of Salvation in Christ Jesus..." (Ray Of Hope Statement Of Purpose). We thank St. Francis for his prayers and his support, and we hope to learn from his example of total love for God and God's people.

Here is a picture of the Communion Table on Gaudete weekend, Rejoice weekend - December, 2001 shortly after the signing of the legal documents for the giving of the Elmira building to the Congregation. It shows the Property Deed, the keys, the second Eucharist Miracle and the Bible at the start of the worship service as we gave thanks to God Almighty. The monstrance is upside down in this picture mistakenly showing the larger cross on the bottom. 


Once we received these two buildings we started the renovation process. We did all the work ourselves, volunteering hundreds of hours. Most of the materials were donated and recycled.
Here is a picture of what the Elmira building looked like before we painted the outside.

We attempted to paint the building ourselves in the summer of 2002.

There were many obstacles that had to be overcome to finally have all the legal permissions in place to be able to actively use the property as the Parsonage/Rectory/Monastery of Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.  In the City of Elmira churches are required to have their own parking lot.  This building is built out to the property line.  Various options were explored and none of them were viable for creating the parking lot space.  Church assembly space is required to have a professional fire alarm system that is monitored twenty-four hours a day.  The fire alarm was designed by the New York State Fire Marshal /Fire Commissioner's Office from Albany, NY and was installed.  We are grateful to the Wood family, the owners of  Fire Alarm Service Technology of Elmira, NY for their generous donation that partially funded the installation of the fire alarm.

Finally, when it seemed that all possible avenues of requirements had been explored and there were still unresolved issues to receiving our Certificate Of Occupancy to open, there was another miracle that happened.

 

Mr. Kenneth Frasier had visited with us a couple of times to orientate us to special facts and features of the building he thought we might need to know about.  After all, he had personally cared for the entire building for years.  As he was finally leaving and wishing us well he was walking out the main door of the future chapel.  Suddenly he stopped, and stared ahead into the street very pensively.  Mr. Frasier turned on his heels and looked me, Br. Benedict, directly into my eyes and said: "You know….   if you ever need a door, there is a door behind this painting."  He pointed to the painting Mrs. Frasier had commissioned to be painted for her dress shop, pictured here.

 

David Frasier remembers the artist's last name who painted this piece as well as some other signs and stationary for the dress shop as York.  He also recalls his studio was on Water Street here in Elmira.  Anyone who has further information on Mr. York is asked to contact us as we would like to fill out the information we have on him.

 

If you look closely at the two following pictures of the building, at the time it was given to us, you will clearly see the painting in its original location. Unbeknownst to us, this painting was part of a wall that was covering an existing door which opens to the interior staircase into the first floor main room.

 

 

 

 

The painting is visible in this picture even as we were attempting to paint the building and do all the required renovations ourselves.  There were no plans to ever move that painting but to keep it there in honor of Mrs. Fraisier.

 

Finally it was obvious that very attempt to meet the legal requirements to open, that we had tried to fulfill between December, 2001 and May, 2003, had failed.  The day had finally arrived for us to give up our attempts, hopes and dreams.  A scheduled meeting was set with Mr. William R. Wheeler, Fire Marshal, and Mr. Robert B. Lutz, Assistant Fire Marshal to bring the project to conclusion and receive instructions on what to do with an unusable building. As Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Lutz stood in front of me, Br. Shawn Benedict, in the main front room we had so hoped to open as our chapel,  I put forth one last and final question - to hear it one last time -

 

"What would it take to be able to open this building as Parsonage/Rectory/Monastery of Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc.?" 

 

Mr. Wheeler said; "The only possible way to do it is if there was a preexisting interior door that connected this main room to a preexisting interior staircase to the second floor and then the building would qualify as a Religious Residence with an Assembly Space.  Not having that, I am afraid you have reached the end of all of your available options, Br. Benedict."

 

Immediately, as if it was a hologram, I saw a living and moving image of Mr. Kenneth Frasier, who had since passed on to Paradise, standing behind Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Lutz.  This was a vision of Mr. Frasier in resurrection bliss, there is no doubt in my mind.  I could see through him, but he was standing in 3-D behind Mr. Lutz and Mr. Wheeler.  Mr. Frasier smiled gently with an intense joy, it is hard to describe the joyful energy he was exuding.  He simply repeated the actions of the last time I saw him.  Mr. Frasier pointed to the painting with his right arm and index finger, and then silently mouthed the words;  "You know….   if you ever need a door, there is a door behind this painting."   He looked deeply into my eyes and light was everywhere, he smiled and he was gone. 

 

Mr. Lutz said, "Brother, are you alright?"  I said, "Yes.  Wait right where you are standing, please, both of you."  I ran into the tool room and brought out a hand saws-all and started cutting the painting out of the wall.  Mr. Wheeler said: "Stop, you are ruining the wall."  I replied, "It is our building.  Wait a minute, please."  I cut the drywall away and they helped me set the painting against the windowsill.  They were both in uniform with white shirts and dark blue pants, now full of drywall dust.  Then I kicked out the bottom half of the area.  I said, "Gentlemen, behold, a doorway."  Mr. Lutz said; "It has to be an original door."  I quickly looked and one could easily see the cut out places in the wooden doorframe where the original hinges had been sometime in the past.

 

 

 

 

Of course the door you see on the left was not on the hinges.  I found that door on the curb down the street having been thrown away as trash later the same week. 

 

I seriously do not remember the words that were muttered as Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Lutz left out of the front door.  They looked very shocked and confused by the whole experience.  There was broken drywall and paneling everywhere, and there was, most importantly, the needed door that connected an interior staircase to the main room on the main floor. 

 

We received our Certificate Of Occupancy and our Maximum Occupancy certification two or three days later on May 23, 2003 signed by both Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Lutz (who has also passed on to Paradise).

 

The Pastor was moved into the Parsonage/Rector/Monastery of Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. before the expiration of midnight on May 30, 2003 and the first formal public worship service was held in the great room, the chapel of the Monastery on Sunday morning, June 1, 2003, the first Sunday of Pride Month, 2003.

 

We have persevered the famous "miracle painting" as we affectionately call it, and moved to the area next to the altar / credence table dedicated The Incarnation of the Eternal Word, which is a 2016 gift to Ray Of Hope Church from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church here in Elmira, NY. 

 

 

Just stop and ponder and ask yourself, what are the odds that Mr. Frasier would have stopped just seconds before he walked out the front door, and I would never see him again, in this life, to turn and say to me: "You know….   if you ever need a door, there is a door behind this painting."  I am sure the mathematical odds are astronomical.  We see it as the work of the Holy Spirit and this why we give testimony to the miracle, the final event that made it possible for us to open.

 

 

 

By the end of 2003 this is how the building looked.

The parsonage in Elmira has been open since Sunday morning June 1, 2003, the first Sunday of Pride Month, 2003. Worship services are held in the pastor's parsonage chapel every Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. 

It is our hope that many people will use our facility, especially other gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, and heterosexual organizations will use our buildings for their meetings. We openly invite organizations to use our buildings.

Come and worship with us on a Sunday and come study the Scriptures with us on Tuesdays. Pray for us and be sure to thank God for the generous gifts many people are making as we maintain our worship center and remain to the public. 

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As a reminder, our Ray Of Hope Church chapel is open for prayer every day and night from 7:00 AM to 12:00 AM.  (Closed 7 hours a day for cleaning and maintenance.) The Blessed Sacrament, the "Bread from Heaven" (Exodus 16:2, Psalm 78:24, John 6:32, 41,50,58), the Bread of the Angels (Psalm 78:25), the Bread of God (John 6:33), the Bread Of Life (John 6:35, 48) the Living Bread (John 66:51), the Sacrament of the Eucharistic "flesh and blood" of Jesus (John 6:52-56) is reserved in both kinds (Eucharistic bread and wine) in the Tabernacle in our chapel.  Please know you are always welcome to stop in for a visit with Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament, for quiet prayer, a quiet place to read and meditate, say a rosary, or just be. Our little chapel could be your perfect get-away.  Who would suspect you were here?  If we see you in the chapel we will certainly say hello and offer a cup of tea or coffee.

 

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Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc. teaches the Doctrine of Universal Salvation.  This is the statement we agreed upon in 2011.

 

"We believe that Salvation is a gift that God has given to the entire human race.  Romans Chapter Five explains this Doctrine of Universal Salvation.  One's personal salvation is assured by believing in God as per John 5:24.  Salvation is best known through the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, and through rebirth by the Holy Spirit." (Ray Of Hope Church Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Inc By-Laws September, 2011  Lines 1141 - 1148)