Lesbian clergy couple comes up on short on `Amazing Race’

c. 2007 Religion News Service LOS ANGELES _ Kate Lewis and Pat Hendrickson may be ordained clergy, but even before they became the latest couple eliminated from “Amazing Race,” they knew God wasn’t really watching. “We are religious people, but we have no illusions that God cares whether we win the Amazing Race,” Lewis, 49, […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

LOS ANGELES _ Kate Lewis and Pat Hendrickson may be ordained clergy, but even before they became the latest couple eliminated from “Amazing Race,” they knew God wasn’t really watching.

“We are religious people, but we have no illusions that God cares whether we win the Amazing Race,” Lewis, 49, an Episcopal priest, said on Sunday’s (Nov. 11) episode.


God may not be watching, but millions of other viewers are.

Each week, millions tune in to CBS’ hit reality series to witness couples _ lovers, friends or relatives _ thrive or slowly implode as they race around the world in hopes of winning the $1 million grand prize.

What created a buzz around Lewis and Hendrickson, however, wasn’t their bickering, skillful racing to airports, hoisting furniture or vaulting over ditches (all tasks faithfully completed by each couple on the season’s first two episodes).

Instead, Lewis and Hendrickson got noticed as a pair of partnered (they say married), openly gay Episcopal clergy. Lewis is a priest at St. Cross by-the-Sea in Hermosa Beach, Calif., and Hendrickson works at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in Thousand Oaks.

Lewis and Hendrickson celebrated their union three years ago at St. Augustine by the Sea, an Episcopal parish in Santa Monica, Calif. Though they consider themselves married, the state of California does not.

“I know them both,” said Robert Williams, a spokesman for the Episcopal Church, “and they’re both faithful ministers of the gospel and very effective in their ministries in the Episcopal Church.”

On top of being big fans of the show, Lewis and Hendrickson say they wanted to be part of the program so they could “show a different face to the world of what it could mean to be a Christian.”

“We want people to know that there are Christians that believe in inclusivity,” they said.


Mitch Graham, a media spokesperson for CBS, says the show has “always had diverse casts” but Damon Romine, entertainment media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said Lewis and Hendrickson stand out for several reasons.

Not only are they a lesbian couple on network TV, but they are a gay couple over the age of 45 on TV. What’s even more rare, Romine said, is a religious gay couple.

Romine said he hopes the show, by featuring the couple, has been able to “move the needle toward acceptance and understanding.”

Hendrickson, 65, is an ordained deacon who works with people with disabilities. While she and Lewis understand they won’t be able to change everybody’s minds, Hendrickson said they hope they reached viewers _ however briefly _ who may think religion is intolerant.

She added, however, that their appearance wasn’t just about being a voice for the Episcopal Church and gays.

“It was probably the most defining moment in my life since I was diagnosed with cancer 17 years ago,” Hendrickson said. “I had let myself mentally think, OK, I’m getting old.”


There was one other, perhaps more self-serving motivation.

“Going on the race,” Lewis said, “is just plain fun.”

KRE/RB END FOWLER500 words

Photos of Lewis and Hendrickson are available via https://religionnews.com.

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