Memoirs of a Gay Christian Brother

Bill Stevens is a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a religious congregation founded by Edmund Rice in Ireland in 1802. Bill joined the Religious Congregation in 1951 at the age of 17 and, after his initial formation, taught in their schools for 24 years. His life then took a turn, and for the next 40 years he was a hospital chaplain, created a nonprofit organization to reach out to the AIDS community, became a Reiki and Tai Chi teacher, and was a chaplain for a hospice. But this book is really not about that. This memoir is about the journey of a gay man from birth to the age of 90.

Bill Stevens is a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, a religious congregation founded by Edmund Rice in Ireland in 1802. Bill joined the Religious Congregation in 1951 at the age of 17 and, after his initial formation, taught in their schools for 24 years. His life then took a turn, and for the next 40 years, he was a hospital chaplain, created a nonprofit organization to reach out to the AIDS community, became a Reiki and Tai Chi teacher, and was a chaplain for a hospice. But this book is really not about that. These memoirs are about the journey of a gay man from birth to the age of 90. We know there were few role models for a young gay man in the '30s, '40s, and '50s. The many hateful and dismissing remarks in both Church and society did not make such a journey any easier. Bill came upon the following quotation from Brené Brown: "One day, you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else's survival guide." This motivated Bill to write his story, and he said it would be worthwhile if it were only to help one other person survive.