Episode #62: Clara - Letter two - meeting

Jan,16 2026

<-#61: Clara - Letter one - invitation#63: Clara - Letter three - acceptance ->

July 2, 1987

To the Council of the Southern Christian Naturism Church,

I have prayed much since my last letter and have spoken at length with my husband. I thank you for your patience while I searched my conscience.

You ask me to attend the gathering in the city this autumn so that we may speak face to face. I must answer honestly that I cannot travel to you. To travel would require me to cover my body, and this is something I have vowed not to do.

For me, nudity is not a convenience of warm days but a covenant. I have lived without clothes since girlhood, as my mother did before me, and I feel no call to step outside that promise for the sake of meetings or titles. The world may consider this stubborn; I consider it faithful.

If this refusal prevents me from serving, I will accept that judgment without bitterness. My husband, who is more willing to compromise in such matters, has offered to attend in my place and to convey my thoughts faithfully. He understands my heart better than anyone and has guided me wisely these many years.

I do not write this to challenge your authority but to protect the boundary that has shaped my life. My aunt spoke often of freedom; my freedom has always been the freedom to remain as God made me. I cannot exchange that for railway tickets or hotel linens.

Some may say that leadership requires flexibility. I answer that leadership also requires constancy, and this is the constancy I possess. I hope you will not mistake it for defiance.

Should you still desire my service under these conditions, I will do what I can from within our community: answering letters, offering counsel, and praying for those I cannot meet. If you judge this insufficient, I will support whatever decision you reach.

I place this matter again in your hands and in God's.

With respect,

Clara Mercer

<-#61: Clara - Letter one - invitation#63: Clara - Letter three - acceptance ->