As the newly elected president of the N.C. Council of Churches, Stan Kimer is typical of those who served before him: a retired business executive, longtime churchgoer and member of several nonprofit organization boards.
He's also openly gay. And that sets him apart.
Only one of the country's 33 similar church councils has elected a leader who is openly gay, that one in California, where a lesbian was elected president in the late 1990s. That makes Kimer's presidency of the N.C. Council - a coalition of 17 Christian denominations and eight individual churches that work on social issues - historic in the South.
It also signals an acceptance among member denominations - Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics - that even if they have theological differences about homosexuality, they are OK with a gay man at the helm. Or at least, they don't see it as an issue worth fighting.
"A lot of our member denominations have internal battles about this," said the Rev. George Reed, the council's executive director. "But the governing board felt the fact that he is a gay man was not a disqualifying factor."
As president, Kimer leads a 35-member governing board that sets the council's direction on a host of social issues, including racial equality, health care, immigrant rights and environmental conservation. He was elected to a one-year term and could run for a second one-year term.
Kimer's election stems from a controversial 1993 decision in which the council added the Metropolitan Community Churches to its roster of cooperating denominations. The MCC is made up of nearly 200 U.S. churches, including seven in North Carolina, that cater mostly to gays and lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered.
Soon after the MCC became part of the N.C. Council,Kimer joined the board as a representative of St. John's MCC, a Raleigh church where he has been a member for 18 years.
Kimer, 55, said he was elected president this month because he was able to convince the board that his agenda is broader than issues of sexuality.
"I have a strong belief that as a Christian I'm called to make the world a better place," he said. "I like to spend my time with groups where I can see an impact."
He cited the council's efforts to educate churches about immigration, obesity and disease, as well as about the need for diversity in public schools.
As president, he wants to help the council grow, and especially to attract younger people to its mission. He hopes to bring more churches into the mix, too, including independent evangelical churches that share concerns about the environment.
Kimer anticipates tough battles ahead as the state legislature transfers power to Republican hands. The council promotes a left-leaning legislative agenda on immigration, health care, tax policy, guns and the death penalty.
"Instead of helping pass good legislation, we'll be helping prevent bad legislation," Kimer said. "Probably a lot of our efforts will be on defense."
Kimer, who retired from IBM last year after serving as director of sales operations for its global business services, is now a private consultant. He lives in Raleigh with his partner of 19 years, Rich Roark, a loan manager for Capital Bank. Both attend St. John's MCC.
"Stan's getting elected president is not a referendum on gay individuals," said Jimmy Creech, a former Methodist minister and a champion for gay causes. "It's about Stan's leadership."
Kimer said that as president he intended to find consensus whenever possible. If the board is divided, the council typically sidesteps the issue.
But in the short term, his election may cause friction. In 1993, when the council voted to admit his church as a member, the N.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church objected and withheld dues for nine years.
Still, the Rev. Steve Hickle, a Methodist pastor who sits on the governing board, said Kimer's election was possible because the council does not require theological agreement. Members work together on social issues where they can find common ground.
"The point of interreligious conversation is to continue to find common ground and understanding," Hickle said. "We want to work together on social justice whenever we can."
