by Judy Parr
Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, All are precious in God’s sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Remember the chorus many of us sang in Sunday School? The Holland Area Pride Festival helped people imagine a new ending to the familiar song, “Gay and lesbian, trans and bi. All are precious in God’s sight. Jesus loves all the children of the world.”
On Saturday, June 29, Centennial Park was filled with all God’s children for the first outdoor Holland Area Pride Festival. The event celebrated Pride month in support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community in the Holland Area.
The Outreach and Hospitality Ministry and Reconciliation Ministry combined efforts to have a Hope Church and Room for All presence at the Festival by sponsoring a table during the afternoon of the event. Throughout the day, the table was attended by more than a dozen Hope Church volunteers who helped to spread the news that all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, are precious in God’s sight and welcome to attend and become members of Hope Church.
The Hope Church/Room for All table was filled with Hope Church coffee mugs, brochures, and newsletters; colorful lollipops; “Jesus Loves Me” heart-shaped rainbow-colored stickers; Room for All pamphlets and lapel pins; and sign-up sheets to receive more information.
“The candy did encourage people to stop at our booth to talk to us,” said volunteer, Kathy Sheridan. “We were asked a few times where Hope Church was located. One woman I spoke to said she drove to Grand Rapids every Sunday to attend a welcoming church and would love to attend a local church.”
Fellow volunteer, Earl Laman, reported that there were “a variety of conversational experiences. People from three RCA churches expressed almost grimacing wishes their churches were ‘open.’ There were good, curious questions about Hope Church and its stance.” Earl added, “Real sharing of life stories took place. Two late middle-agers confided to me: ‘The younger ones don’t know what we went through.’ A lot of lives were brightened, assured, uplifted, touched.”
“We were so proud to have our congregation at the event,” said volunteers, Fred and Lori VanDoornik, “and certainly would love to see us do it again.”
An immediate result of Hope Church’s presence at the Pride Festival was evident the very next day. Someone who had learned of Hope Church’s room for all at the festival attended worship for the first time that Sunday. Several Hope Church members engaged with her in conversation, passed the peace of Christ to her, and invited her to stay for Pizza Sunday. As Audrianne Hill said about her experience volunteering at the event, “Sometimes it is in the little steps we take that lead to big leaps forward.”