Highlands Church marks its first birthday Sunday, having survived a year in which it lost half its congregation and two-thirds of its financial support after the pastor declared that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people could participate fully in church life and leadership.The Rev. Mark Tidd, married father of five, said his decision created a maelstrom that forced his break with the denomination of his ordination, the Christian Reform Church.
It also led him to end his affiliation with Pathways Church.
They were not bitter partings, the pastor said, just inevitable.
"I knew my views and practices were outside their bounds," Tidd said. "My church extends the love of God to people who are treated like the last group of lepers on earth."
After the initial shock wave and mass exodus from the church, a surprising thing happened: Tidd's remnant congregation of 80 soon tripled to more than 240.
As word spread, church-website visits grew from 30 a day to about 14,000 a day, albeit many of them denouncing Tidd or offering to pray for the recovery of his senses. But he also heard gut-wrenching stories from people whose sexual orientation had forced them to the fringes of faith communities.
Highlands Church, while still rooted in evangelical tradition, is a big departure from the mainstream of nondenominational churches, which believe homosexuality runs counter to God's natural order.
People drive to Highlands Church from as far away as Colorado Springs and Longmont to attend Sunday worship services.
CNN has asked to come in November to cover the church's second annual Symposium on the Evangelical Church and Homosexuality.
Highlands member Joe Quillen, raised Baptist, said that most Christian church leaders say they love and welcome gay people. What they really mean, Quillen said, is that they love you in spite of the fact that you're gay. After all, they know they must love all sinners and broken people.
"What they don't say is that you can't be openly gay and be a church leader or have an affirmed marriage or relationship," Quillen said.
"No regrets"
For Tidd, 56, it was a gradual realization that he felt it was wrong to treat gay people as less than fully human.
"I'd see people suffering, and it caused me to question whether I absolutely understood what the Bible said about homosexuality," Tidd said. "You can't suppress love and support for people. Goodness opens doors and possibilities for people, not closes them."
And, though a third of Highlands' membership is part of the GLBT community, the remaining two-thirds is mostly made up of conventional young families.
"I just had a strong sense that this was something God wanted to go forward. It just felt like he had our back," Tidd said. "Everything we've done I'm sure we could have done differently and done better, but I really have no regrets."
The church faced down its first winter with a broken boiler and a need to raise more than $100,000 in six weeks, by Christmas Eve, to hang on to its old building at 3241 Lowell Blvd. By the time the holiday arrived, the congregation had raised $130,000.
And so a grateful church is celebrating this first anniversary on Sunday with a 9:30 a.m. breakfast and 10:15 a.m. special service.
Lisa Crane and her husband, Ryan, had taken about a year off from church after growing bothered, she said, of the injustices experienced by her gay friends.
"There were so many gays with amazing talent and experience who couldn't get full recognition for their contributions," said Crane, 29. "It was like the church was using them. They could offer their talents but they couldn't lead a little group or be a church elder. It was feeling more and more wrong to me that gays couldn't fully participate in church life."
She heard about the upstart Highlands Church. While many of her friends and relatives don't agree with her decision to go there, she said, they're respectful. And she looks forward to one day telling her now-15-month-old son that his parents were on the leading edge of a new era in church history.
"It's exciting to be part of this," Crane said.
A magical feeling
The church staff has grown from two to six, including volunteers. The church has a weekly community hour, adoption assistance, choir, prayer team, social justice group, in-home group dinners and a partnership to support local musicians and artists.
And, Tidd said, some church members who initially stayed but were tentative about accepting the new policy, have "taken us off probation."
"What feels a little magical is that during Communion there are lots of families with children in their arms and gays and everyone together," Tidd said. "And it feels really normal. It's the family of God gathered around the table."
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
Read more: Denver church growing again after fully accepting gays - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16047013?source=rss#ixzz0zElTDYYn
I exchanged emails this morning with the pastor and am so encouraged by his and the community's response to the message of love and inclusion they are living out to those around them. Just an great way to start my Saturday with my Dad.
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