GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Controversy has erupted at a Grand Rapids area Catholic church after a local openly gay judge says the priest advised her not to come forward for Holy Communion.

Judge Sara Smolenski, a long-serving judge with the 63rd District Court at East Beltline Avenue NE and Knapp Street, said she was given the news in a conversation with Father Scott Nolan on Saturday, Nov. 23.

She’s been a life-long member of the church, St. Stephen Catholic Church in East Grand Rapids. She was baptized there, went to school there and celebrated many life events. Her parents were married there.

“In 62 years, this is the first time I’ve ever been denied,” she said.

Smolenski said she’s visited other Catholic churches where priests welcomed her to receive Communion and, in fact, she received Communion from Nolan on Nov. 17. She had not worshipped at the parish for several months prior to Nov. 17, though.

“Why now? and why me?” she asked in a Wednesday, Nov. 27 interview.

Nolan came to St. Stephen some three years ago, about the same time as Smolenski was married to her long-time partner of 27 years. Her marriage was a public news story and Smolenski said Nolan was aware of her orientation for some time.

During the Saturday conversation with Nolan, Smolenski said she was told her marriage was the crux of the issue.

Smolenski said she doesn’t understand the stance from Nolan or the Diocese of Grand Rapids, which issued a statement Wednesday that supported Nolan.

“I was raised in that church. It created who I am. We were taught ‘love everyone,’” she said.

The Diocese statement reads, in part:

“Inclusion and acceptance have been a hallmark of Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Grand Rapids throughout the diocese’s history. They remain so. They presume, however, a respect on the part of individuals for the teachings and practice of the wider Catholic community. No community of faith can sustain the public contradiction of its beliefs by its own members. This is especially so on matters as central to Catholic life as marriage, which the Church has always held, and continues to hold, as a sacred covenant between one man and one woman.

Father Scott Nolan, pastor of St. Stephen Parish, has dedicated his priesthood to bringing people closer to Jesus Christ. Part of his duty in pursuing that end is to teach the truth as taught by the Catholic Church, and to help it take root and grow in his parish. Mercy is essential to that process, but so are humility and conversion on the part of anyone seeking to live an authentically Catholic Christian life.

Father Nolan approached Judge Smolenski privately. Subsequent media reports do not change the appropriateness of his action, which the diocese supports.”

Nolan could not be reached through email late Friday.

Other longtime St. Stephen parishioners have stepped forward in support of Smolenski and others in similar situations who also have been denied Communion.

Micki Benz said she feels the church has changed in recent years.

“It had always been the most inclusive and diverse parish in the city,” she said. “This is the first time we have ever had this sort of division.”

Benz, who like Smolenski is now worshipping elsewhere but still considers St. Stephen her home, is open about her belief the parish needs new leadership. She and others have sent letters to the Bishop and requested a meeting.

“I think if you went back to the teachings of Jesus, you would see that everyone is welcome,” she said.

For Smolenski’s part, she said she does not want controversy at her church and did not seek any publicity on the Communion issue.

“I don’t want divisiveness at that church,” she said. “I think Father Scott he thinks he’s doing the right thing.”

Still, she felt compelled to “speak my truth” when media recently approached her on the subject.