Visiting High Street United Methodist Church

One aspect of my quest to become a better ally includes exploring some of the people and places in my community who have publicly expressed welcome to their LGBTQ neighbors. As part of this effort, I am visiting all seven churches who added their name to the Equality Springfield billboard project.

As I visit these churches, my intention is to highlight some of the work they are doing and enter into conversation with them about their decision to publicly express their support of LGBTQ people.

Last week, I kicked off my Welcoming Tour with my first church visit: High Street United Methodist Church.

The church was founded in 1849, having been launched from the nearby Columbia Street Methodist Church when the congregation became too large to fit in their meeting space. The new church launched with 85 members and they purchased the lot at 230 E High Street in 1850. High Street UMC has been present in our community ever since.

I visited High Street UMC with my wife and two friends during the 11am contemporary service (there is a traditional service at 9:30am). We did not set out to "review" our church experience (this is not Yelp for churches!). But, as we ate lunch together after the service, we did talk about our experience.

If I had to choose one word to characterize our visit to High Street UMC, I would choose the word welcome. As soon as we arrived, numerous people went out of their way to introduce themselves and show us around the building. I lost count of how many times someone approached us to offer coffee and conversation. We also received helpful information about the church, including their various outreach efforts, groups, and upcoming events. The people who spoke with us did not just say hello, but took their time explaining who they were, what was going on at the moment, and what to expect from the service.You can read more about all these things at the church website.
 
Even the music selection was designed with the idea of welcoming in mind. Take a look at the lyrics of the first song: 

Speaking of music, my good friend Kent Brooks is the Music Director for the contemporary service, and he also leads the contemporary service at Faith UMC. Kent is immensely gifted, and he does an amazing job leading worship with humility and grace.

One of the many things I respect about Kent's leadership is his devotion to seeking a diversity of voices in worship. Kent seeks to bring a worship experience that is reflective of the kingdom of God, incorporating people from differing backgrounds, ethnicities, class, and orientation.

One exciting aspect of this diversity in worship at High Street UMC is the presence of LGBT people in their worship leadership team. There is something decidedly powerful in seeing LGBT people in positions of prominence and taking part in the active life of the church, especially in light of the sad reality that many churches currently exclude LGBT people from service and worship. If the message truly is, "all are welcome," then this should be reflected in the composition of the leadership.

Why did High Street UMC decide to add their name to the Equality Springfield billboard? I had an opportunity to speak with Pastor Steven Fewell, and I asked him just that!

I contacted Pastor Steven by email before visiting the church, and we were able to chat after the morning service.

Pastor Steven is relatively new to this congregation, having stepped into the role of pastor during the summer. He explained that the decision to support the Equality Springfield billboard project was made by his predecessor (Pastor Jeff Allen), cementing the church's status as a welcoming congregation before he arrived. He also credited Music Director Kent Brooks and others as being key figures in bringing about the decision.

Pastor Steven told me he is honored to serve in a church that is welcoming to EVERY neighbor, and he considers the welcoming posture toward LGBTQ people to be an honorable legacy to uphold. He told me he looks forward to doing all he can to live up to the calling set forth by his predecessor, and he also looks forward to seeking new opportunities to work alongside other churches to make our community more welcoming overall.

Besides the general sense of welcome, I was also struck by the amount of outreach taking place at High Street UMC. Food pantries and meals for the homeless, activities for children, youth, and adults, missions work, and even group knitting circles! There are free concerts and performances (the Sanctuary series), and as visitors, we were able to designate a ministry effort of our choosing, which the church then made a donation to in our honor (we selected a local elementary school).

There's no question: there are many people hard at work, making our community a healthy and happy place. I am honored to be serving in the same community as High Street UMC as they work out their faith and extend the welcome of Jesus to every single person they meet.
  
Goodness is afoot! More to come in my survey of welcoming churches.