Cathedral Characters: A Cathedral True to its Roots

Brooke McGillis is a therapist and the director of the San Diego Pastoral Counseling Center. The center is a quiet therapy office located on campus. As Brooke says, “there’s a direct connection between one’s faith and their happiness,” so it’s appropriate for the center to be located in the heart of the cathedral. All are welcome. If you’re interested, call 619-295-5871 and leave a confidential voicemail for Brooke.

Brooke is a deeply thoughtful, philosophical person with eyes that see beneath the surface. She’s calm, soft-spoken, gentle and creates a safe space for talking. She has a smile and a laugh that put you at ease and reveal her own inner light.

1. Tell me about a meaningful community experience you have had in the Cathedral.
It’s been really cool. I’ve never been a part of a parish before but I’m here often because I work in the Pastoral Counseling center. It’s nice getting to know the people who work here and the longer I’m here, the more human connections I’ve made and those enrich me deeply. I am fortunate to be connected and to feel the warmth.

2. What kinds of things do you do that help you draw near to God or God’s people?
I pray and I do yoga. I love yoga. In terms of discipline, I try to be mindful of the opportunities to help. I try to be creative about what I can give, because it’s not always money. For example, I was driving home after buying groceries the other day and I saw a man with a sign asking for money. I didn’t have cash so I gave him my mac and cheese. The dean says to give until it’s a stretch and I try to do that. I give by working at a deep discount for some clients at the counseling center. Giving like that brings me closer to people and if I’m in community, I figure I’m about as close to God as I’m gonna get.

3. What is a book/film/song you think everyone should read/see/hear and why?
There’s a lot of books, man. Paul Tillich’s Love, Power and Justice or his book, The Courage to Be, which is a book that lets us off the hook for a lot of things we put ourselves on the hook for. We put ourselves on the hook and insert this into our day-to-day frameworks. We then reify those frameworks based on being on the hook. But we have an internal freedom that allows us to think and experience something different. The book is about that. And it’s easy to read.

4. At this particular moment in history, what is the most important work the church can do?
Am I gonna get in trouble? Some of the work the cathedral is doing with the LGBT community has been healing. A lot of healing needs to happen between the religious world and the LGBT community. My mom is gay and I was raised in the gay community here in San Diego. I marched in the first Pride parade here when I was 12. What’s interesting is to see this reconciliation happening. It’s not just lip service. It’s really happening. What I find rewarding in my position is that psychology has also been a sticky wicket for LGBT people. Here at the San Diego Pastoral Counseling Center, I’m able to move forward on two fronts in relation to the LGBT community — religion and psychology. That couldn’t happen very many places. It’s very meaningful that this church marches in the Pride parade and supports the work of Bishop Senyoyo in Uganda. It’s a big deal. Another thing that’s not lip service is what the dean says, “whoever you are and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith, you are welcome here.” That’s real.

Being a cathedral with medieval roots, a place where people would come together, with everybody being on a different level and having different ideas, but still, everyone shows up. So St. Paul’s Cathedral is true to its roots.

5. Anything else you would like to add about your life at St. Paul’s Cathedral?
That the Cathedral is one of the largest supporters in the religious community of LGBT people is potent. It’s powerful. Because the Cathedral is a symbol of old, dominant institutions and it’s been around for a long time. This movement is both breaking the rules and maintaining the institution. We have to break the rules that keep us static to become more dynamic.

I remember being a kid and coming here to listen to the organ music before my grandma would let us go play at the park. I have a long history here with this Cathedral so it’s extra special with the LGBT work. We used to look at this place from the park and say, “Ew, yuck, the church.” To have the kind of transformation we’ve had in the past 30 years is pretty cool. So the importance of being flexible but maintaining the institution nonetheless.

Hannah Wilder writes Cathedral Characters, an occasional series about people in the Cathedral community. If there’s someone you’d like to hear about, drop a note for Hannah in the comments!