2006 POINT SCHOLARS

Mykal O'Neal Slack

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York

Joanne Herman Point Scholarship

Mykal was not brought up in the church, but nonetheless felt the homophobic sting of right wing religious rhetoric early-on in small town Georgia where he grew up. Committed to seeking out communities that were more supportive of his growth as a queer-identified person of color, and after graduating from Emory University with a B.A. in Economics, Mykal left for New York to pursue a law degree from City University of New York School of Law at Queens College. As a lawyer in training, he was able to realize his dream of fighting for the rights of LGBT people all over the country at places like the Urban Justice Center’s Peter Cicchino (Lesbian and Gay) Youth Project, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project.

Despite the significance this work held for Mykal, he felt a greater calling on his life, and so left the practice of law in 2004 to matriculate at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Now, as a third-year Master of Divinity student, his primary focus is on pastoral ministry and theology, as well as liturgical studies and vocal/gospel music. He is a candidate for the ordained ministry in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a Christian denomination founded in 1968 to meet the spiritual needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer communities of faith all over the world. He is on the pastoral staff at Metropolitan Community Church of New York in Manhattan and regularly serves as a staff counselor at Sylvia’s Place, a shelter for homeless Queer-identified youth that is housed in the church. He is presently engaged in the development of prodigy, a youth and young adult ministry for LGBTQ youth at MCC New York.

In Mykal's own words: “The Psalmist tells us that God knows us, discerns our thoughts from far away, is acquainted with all our ways, and that we are, in the same breath, wonderfully made. It’s beautiful, isn’t it, that there is nothing about ourselves that is beyond God’s understanding and love. What an incredible world this IS going to be, when each and every person truly understands that all of who they are has value and is worthy of God’s unconditional love!”