Arlington Pride announced today (Wednesday, June 4) that the Rev. Carol West, retired senior pastor of Celebration Community Church, has been chosen to receive the organization’s LGBTQ Visionary Award.
“Arlington Pride is honored to present this award to Rev. West in recognition of her decades of trailblazing leadership, fearless advocacy and unwavering love for the LGBTQ+ community,” noted a press release announcing the award.
“To call Rev. Carol West a visionary is to only scratch the surface of her extraordinary impact on Tarrant County and beyond,” the press release continued. “She has been a pillar of strength, compassion and courage in the LGBTQ+ community since the late 1960s — a time when living openly and advocating publicly came with great risk.”
West began her ministry in 1988 at the height of the AIDS crisis, serving as an AIDS chaplain for what was then known as Dallas Metropolitan Community Church (now Cathedral of Hope).
“She provided spiritual care, dignity and unconditional love to hundreds of individuals living with HIV/AIDS,” the Arlington Pride press release said. “She sat by bedsides, comforted families, performed countless funerals and fiercely advocated for accessible healthcare.
“She often reflects, ‘I started my career with funerals, and I feel like I’m ending it with weddings,’” the press release continued. “That full-circle journey, from grief to celebration, speaks volumes about the arc of progress she has helped shape.”
In 1998, West was called to lead Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, then a congregation of just 35 members. “Under her guidance, Celebration grew into a vibrant, inclusive and affirming spiritual home, welcoming not only those of faith, but all who sought safety, community and connection.”
Celebration also birthed a new congregation, Celebration on the Lake in Gun Barrel City, which is now an independent congregation, under West’s leadership.
In 2009, following a joint raid by agents with the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commisson and Fort Worth Police on a newly-opened Fort Worth gay bar called The Rainbow Lounge, West co-founded Fairness Fort Worth and played a key role in getting the city of Fort Worth to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in local nondiscrimination policies and ordinances. The day after that historic raid, West opened Celebration’s doors to organizers and protestors, providing space where they could make signs, form plans and begin the work that would spark monumental change for LGBTQ inclusion and respect in Fort Worth.
“Rev. Carol West has spent a lifetime building bridges — between generations, identities and communities,” Arlington Pride organizers said. “Her legacy is one of healing, justice, and deep pride in the beautiful diversity of the LGBTQ family.
“For her lifetime of service, vision, and love, we are proud to honor the Rev. Carol West with the LGBTQ Visionary Award.”
— Tammye Nash