Prayer service for ousted gay teacher
About 120 people attended A Prayer Service for Mercy and Healing in Narberth to support Margie Winters, who was dismissed from Waldron Mercy Academy because of her marriage to a woman.
PARENTS AND alumni of Waldron Mercy Academy gathered once again to show support for Margie Winters - the faculty member ousted from the Catholic school because of her same-sex marriage - this time at a prayer service last night in Montgomery County.
About 120 adults and children braved the humidity, nearly 90-degree temperatures and plenty of gnats to attend "A Prayer Service for Mercy and Healing" at General Wayne Park in Lower Merion.
One of the vigil's organizers, alum Christine Gallagher, started off the service saying, "We gather as a community this evening to do what we have been taught to do in times of need: pray."
Winters was present but declined to be interviewed.
"You will not hear from Margie tonight. We are here to join together to pray for her and Andrea; to pray for [Waldron Mercy Academy] to pray for the Sisters of Mercy; to pray for our church," Gallagher said.
"So we gather in mercy to pray for healing and compassion," she said.
Winters was dismissed last month after a parent complained about her same-sex marriage to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Waldron's principal Nell Stetser, in a letter to parents, said the school recognized Archbishop Charles Chaput's authority "especially in the teaching of religion, because we call ourselves Catholic."
The Archdiocese has repeatedly denied it was involved in Winter's firing.
During the 45-minute service, the group sang songs and recited prayers of Catherine McAuley, founder of Sisters of Mercy, which sponsors the Merion Station school.
And they shared their hopes. One young student told the group he hoped "Ms. Winters returns to Waldron Mercy."
Alum Nick Morinigo, a 1993 graduate, took part in the service "to support Margie and to make it known that the Waldron community is not supportive of the decisions that I think, unfortunately, the administration was forced to make by the Archdiocese.
"Whether it was implicit or direct, I think pressure was applied - there's no other logical way it would have happened," Morinigo said, echoing an opinion of many parents and alumni.
Skylar Brown and Ellie O'Neill, both 14 and June graduates of the school, remember Winters fondly as their volleyball coach.
O'Neill broke down in tears as she talked about Winters. "It's going to be really different without her in the Waldron community," she said.
"No way, shape or form was this merciful," Brown said. It was "hypocritical of the school. She did not deserve it under any circumstances."
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