In 1992, Other Sheep was founded by Rev. Dr. Tom Hanks and Mr. John Doner, both pastors with Metropolitan Community Churches. Tom Hanks was the co-founder of the first MCC church in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and John Doner was the founder of MCC in Mexico. Working in two different countries in Latin America, both Rev Hanks and Rev Doner were very aware of the strong prejudice against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and all other sexual minority people outside of North America and Europe.
Accordingly, Hanks and Doner founded Other Sheep, the only worldwide ecumenical ministry working with sexual minorities. An all-volunteer organization with founding board members based in St. Louis, the scope of Other Sheep is international but with special emphasis on Latin America. Rev. Dr. Hanks served as the volunteer Other Sheep executive director until 2003.
Rev. Stephen R. Parelli, formerly an ordained evangelical Baptist minister, pastored in the states of New York and New Jersey. He became the Executive Director of Other Sheep in 2005 and served in that role until 2016. Parelli was instrumental in growing Other Sheep’s presence in Asia and Africa. Meanwhile, Hanks and Doner continued to coordinate the work in Latin America.
The departure of Stephen Parelli led the board of Other Sheep to place the ministry on hold. They saw a need to redirect and refocus the mission and work of Other Sheep. The focus shifted to providing more resources to activists working in their countries. This change moved away from directly doing the work out of a US-based organization. The Other Sheep executive director position was redefined and is now called “Global Coordinator.” Vinod Shemron of India started his work late in 2025 as Other Sheep’s volunteer Global Coordinator. And Stan C. Kimer Chairs the Board.