Hope Collective Church

 2024

Hope Collective Church

I was thinking last night about the church my wife and I attend. I know, I'm transgender, yet we attend a church? Generally, those two things don't go together. Yet, this church is different, and I wish that it wasn't different.

What I mean by that is this church really does a great job of living out what a church should be. I wish lots of churches did that. I'll give you some examples:

Why the church exists. Well, the Pastor got the idea from sitting in a bar with a few drag queens, and listening to their stories of hurt and rejection. He couldn't shake the idea, so here we are! This is a United Methodist congregation. But, we meet in a movie theater. What we do is love people. Regardless who they are, where they live, who they voted for, how much money they have, or what their needs are. 

Race. This church is interracial. Sure, I know lots of churches are that way, but it is relatively uncommon in our area. We have white people, African American people, and though we don't currently have any in person attenders who are Asian/Pacific Islanders or Hispanic or Native American, these folks are 100% welcome too! I love seeing a worship team and church crown who isn't all white.

Gender - This church isn't one that thinks women are inferior. Not at all.

Gender identity. People who speak during the service, be it the person preaching, the worship leader, the person doing the welcome, whoever they are, start off with, as an example: "Hi. My name is Meredith Pendragon, and my pronouns are she and her". Believe me, no one grumbles about it, and no one criticizes anyone's pronouns In fact, we work hard at getting those pronouns right.

Who gets a voice. Everyone. Literally everyone. There is a large group of Pastors and former/retired Pastors, and who speaks on any given Sunday is widely varied. White men. Black women. Black men. White women. We have even had a transgender woman give the sermon. But it's more than that. Each Sunday we have an 8 minute talk from someone. Sometimes it is a local community organization. Sometimes it is someone telling part of their story. Everyone gets a voice. 

Participation. The number of volunteers in this church group is mind blowing. Many churches struggle to impact their community, or to have people offer to help the church do things. The vast majority of Hope Collective volunteer with in the church itself, and in the community. At my last count, Hope Collective partners with 26 community organizations, and we're always looking for more. In the church itself, we have a fully diverse group of volunteers we are so thrilled with!

Music. Talented musicians. you never know what they're going to do on a Sunday. We've had everything from stately old hymns to funk. 

The Pastor is a pretty cool guy too. You'll never meet a more humble person. 

I attend church with cis-gender people. Lots of them. Lots of heterosexual people. Bisexual people. Gay people. Lesbian people. Non-binary people. Queer people. It's honestly pretty awesome. 

Well, to get to the point, I am blessed to go to church with a wonderfully diverse group of people who genuinely love people just as they are. You'd be welcome to stop in with us, but you're also welcome to look us up online, at hopecollectivechurch.org, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hopecollectivechurch