I was appointed to Galena United Methodist Church on July 1, 2022. Galena is a small but historic town. The church itself is 194 years old and its membership is predominantly Caucasian.

As the church’s new pastor, I needed to build a relationship with and learn more about this congregation and their neighbors. During that learning process, I found out that the congregation was not officially a Reconciling Congregation, even though they thought they were. They had already been openly in support of LGBTQ+ people for a long time, so I helped them start the process to become a Reconciling Congregation. It was difficult, but we prayed and communicated with each other.

On Nov. 6, 2022, Galena UMC voted 90 percent in favor of becoming a Reconciling Congregation. The members adopted a statement of affirmation and agreed at their church conference to affiliate with the Reconciling Ministries Network.

We celebrated this decision on Jan. 22. Elisa Gatz, a Northern Illinois Conference delegate to the 2019 United Methodist General Conference, was our guest speaker. We publicized our joy through emails, letters, Facebook, our website, and the local paper.

In an interview withThe Galena Gazette, I shared my faith journey and passion for inclusive ministry, social justice, and reconciling ministry and advocated for the love and grace of God.
Galena UMC is an aging congregation, but age has not diminished our passion to be a Reconciling
Congregation. In every Sunday worship service, we proudly and joyfully proclaim our welcoming
statement. Our hope is that more LGBTQ+ people will feel welcome and those who are already a part of this congregation will continue to feel safe and welcome. We hope that Galena UMC becomes an oasis or a lighthouse for LGBTQ+ people and their families or neighbors near and far.

We’re Growing
Since we became a Reconciling Congregation, our Sunday worship attendance has been growing! Over 50 visitors have worshiped with us and in January, we welcomed two new members. And in February, we celebrated an infant baptism.

Galena United Methodist Church's choir performed at the town's Living Windows event in December 2022.

We are blessed to have a wonderful new choir coordinator and choir director, and we are grateful that they found us through The Galena Gazette. This enabled us to restart our choir. Our services have become more vibrant and joyful. Our choir even participated in the Night of the Luminaria and LivingWindows in downtown Galena. They sang Christmas carols in front of the church in
December.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, Galena UMC members have been engaging in tearing down the
barriers of injustice, gender oppression, and the walls of hostility that hurt and dehumanize the
children of God. I believe that the amazing grace of God has been manifested through this process of becoming a Reconciling Congregation, and I feel humbled by everything that has been done by this church and its beautiful people.

Learn more about becoming a Reconciling Congregation with Reconciling Ministries here.