The Wright House is the new Episcopal center and University of Georgia dorm opening in fall 2022. Reverend Clayton Harrington offers insight into the Episcopal Church’s history of inclusivity, and why now is the right time for religiously affiliated student housing at UGA.
Clayton Harrington outside Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia, on Sunday, November 28, 2021.
The grounds of Emmanuel Episcopal Church extend far beyond what you can see passing by it on Prince Avenue. The minimalist chapel is quietly beautiful, and the sanctuary, bathed in light from ornate stained glass windows, inspires a sense of calm.
Rev. Clayton Harrington, the rector’s associate for youth and young adult ministries and the Epsicopal campus missioner at the University of Georgia, is waiting in the small library to discuss The Wright House, the new Episcopal student center and 123-bed dorm currently under construction at the top of Lumpkin Street.
Harrington grew up in Broadway, North Carolina, a town of roughly 1,300. He was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention, but found the denomination’s beliefs to be incompatible with his identity as a gay man.
His path to church leadership is a unique faith journey that has prepared him for this next endeavor at UGA, where he will be the live-in chaplain at The Wright House and act as a community leader for its residents.
These are edited excerpts from our conversation at Emmanuel.
Did you ever feel separated from your faith because of your sexuality, or did you feel like your faith was separated from that denomination?
During that time period, I don’t think I felt separate from my interior faith. It was like moving further and further away from what is being preached from the pulpit and what is being taught in Bible studies. That point when I really came to terms with everything was my senior year. By that point, it was like, “Am I really going to break away at this point in my life?”
How did you transition away from the Southern Baptist church?
I did a paper in undergrad where I traced mainline Christian traditions and how they reacted to the three main civil rights movements of the 20th century. It was part of that study that I found out the Episcopal Church had been way ahead of my tradition. In some of the statements from the Southern Baptist Convention – it was horrifying – the language that they would use about LGBTQ folks was just terrible. As a gay person, I was kind of coming to terms with that in college having been raised in this homophobic tradition. It was very liberating to know there are options – that I can stay faithful and still be who I am and not have to suppress part of my identity.
How is the Episcopal Church different?
One of the things I think is cool/helpful/beautiful about the Episcopal Church is that we’re what’s referred to as a non-confessing tradition. We don’t have a statement of faith. What it means to be an Anglican is not to share a set of beliefs, but to share a set of prayers. We might believe different things, but it's this unity around what we do together, how we pray together, and how we engage with God. That's what gives us unity, and I think that changes the way you approach other people.
Do you think that more denominations will divide over gay rights in the future?
I can only speak from experience at the Episcopal Church, but in 2003, we ordained our first openly gay bishop. That began the process where folks did leave our tradition. I mean, Gene Robinson, that was who was elected, had to wear a bulletproof vest underneath his robes to his consecration because there were so many death threats. I think that what a lot of traditions eventually realize is if you don’t split, but you’re still fighting constantly, you’ve already split.
I think it’s always a tragedy. Part of Jesus’s prayer for the church on the night before he was going to die was “Father I pray that they all may be one, as you and I are one.” So there’s this part of Jesus’s prayer that we still haven’t seen.
What was the thinking behind combining a church, a student center and a dorm?
The design of The Wright House was this hope to create a self-sustaining community that focuses on three words: live, study and pray. So, offering those things to anybody, not only folks who live there. There are 123 beds, but also study spaces and a cafe/meeting space. It’ll be a really neat space in addition to the chapel. In this community, The Wright House is going to help us open more doors to more people. One of the things that we’re really keen on it being is a community of belonging – where you are welcome as you are. It’s not fitting in, it’s belonging.
Why is now the time to introduce a convergence of faith and student housing at UGA?
I think this past year and a half has taught us a lot about how deeply we – like, humanity in general – want to be with each other. Before this, we didn’t really think about it. It was just a given. Being in lockdown and being away from people that you cared about was really an eye-opener.
Where faith ties into that is we’re all about love and belonging and community, not in spite of our faith, but it’s the faith that’s informing that. It’s the words of Jesus that really give that emphasis. The fact that everybody, everybody, everybody is welcome is not somehow acquiescing to culture, but it’s actually a divine mandate. To me, that’s where these things come together. With this model, we can invite even more people into a space where they know they’re welcome and loved and wanted and belong, not in spite of anything, but because of who they are.