Father Scott West, who was born in South Pekin, will be returning to Peoria to start The American Old Catholic Church.  The Parish will tentatively be named Saint Luke’s Church.

The Old Catholic church is similar to the Roman Catholic Church in that it provides all seven sacraments, and is a valid Catholic church according to ancient agreements with Rome.  The big difference is that it openly accepts all people to the sacraments without reservation.  The Old Catholic Church (sometimes referred to as Independent Catholic) ordains both men and women, gay, transgendered and heterosexual people.

The separation between church came about as a result of the First Vatican council http://www.ocinfo.org/content/view/16/26/.

Fr Scott intends to witness gay marriages for the Old Catholic Church, and believes that government should not interfere in church matters such as marriage.  He is out to his family as a priest AND a gay man, so there will be no surprises to them.

Father Scott is shown here blessing the crowd after a wedding in Woburn, Massachusetts last year.

Fr. Scott is looking for some people who would be willing to start working on the church. Saint Luke’s needs folks who can read scripture, type, work with numbers, sing (louder than the priest) and worship.

Initially Saint Luke's will be a home church, and by September 2009 should have its own building.

Here are some links you may find of interest to learn more about the Old Catholic Church:

• http://www.saint-lukes-old-catholic.org/
• http://www.iecca.org/

To learn more about Saint Luke’s Church, or to help get the church started, please contact Fr. Scott West at (309) 740-3308 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .