Wednesday, December 11th
My father, a retired United Methodist Minister, marched with Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery. The United Methodist Church, with its core social justice values, suited my parents. When I was a young child, living in Seneca Falls, NY (home of the first Women’s Rights Convention), my father had cause to research the Christian view of homosexuality. His findings challenged him to act for acceptance of gays and lesbians in the United Methodist Church.
He wrote a letter to his bishop explaining his research. He was asked to educate other pastors in the United Methodist Church, and he was sought out as a counselor by gay and lesbian Christians. For most of my life, I watched him strive for change in the United Methodist Church, always hoping to find the Christ-like acceptance within our church that he discovered in his research. This call for justice that I grew up with is a large part of why I became a lawyer.
In college, I had a lesbian friend who was rejected by family. I tried to convey to her that Jesus called God Love, and with love comes acceptance of the differences God made within us. Unfortunately, my voice was drowned out by the numerous Christians she heard in the media with words and policies of exclusion.
For many years, my husband and I hoped and waited for change in the United Methodist Church. When Greg and I had twins four years ago, my name changed from merely daughter, wife and attorney to mother. With this personal change came a new sense of urgency. Greg and I are now responsible for teaching our children about Christ’s Love, and wonder, as others have, how we can do this in a church that holds official policies that exclude lesbian and gay people from the full life of the church.
Bothell United Methodist Church has the opportunity to counteract these policies of exclusion by specifically welcoming people of all sexual orientations and becoming a Reconciling Church. During Advent, I am reminded that Christ is the hope of the world, and I find myself hopeful that Bothell United Methodist Church can truly be a reflection of Christ’s unconditional love by becoming a Reconciling Church and demonstrating Christ’s Love to all of God’s children.
–Hollybeth Hakes
God of Love, may I remain full of hope as I wait for the day when your unconditional love is made visible in our world. Amen.
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