HOLLAND, Michigan — Religion permeates life in West Michigan, which has been described as a smaller bible belt. Churches dot the map on the lakeshore, sometimes covering two corners of an intersection.
In the heart of downtown Holland, pastors at First United Methodist Church are risking their jobs after opening their congregation to LGBTQ marriages and ordinations.
“In scripture, there is a verse about laying your life down for another person,” the pastor of engagement at First United, Rev. Tania Dozeman said. “I’m ready, I’m all in.”
The decision came months after more than half of the delegates voted to maintain bans on the ordination of gay clergy and same-sex marriages at an international conference of the United Methodist Church last February.
In a non-binding straw poll taken in June, more than two-thirds of Michigan Methodists preferred full inclusion in marriage and ordination – First United made it policy.
“Our eye is out to the community about who is not yet present at God's table, and without a doubt in the West Michigan community, and especially in Holland, that is the LGBTQ community,” Dozeman said.
"The support from First United is exceptional, and somewhat foreign in this community," Lexi Scott, who runs the church’s inclusion program said. Scott's wife, Chelsea, sings in the choir.
“It's an amazing feeling to be here and not feel like I’m being stared at or watched,” Scott said. “I can come and worship and hold my wife's hand.”
While many churches “welcome all,” fewer than 10 of more than 150 in the Holland community are fully inclusive regarding marriage and ordainment, Dozeman said.
"Traditional churches are missing out on people’s gifts," Co-pastor at Hope Church, Rev. Gordon Wiersma said.
“We're responsible to receive the gifts of our congregation, and that's what ordination and marriage are both about,” Wiersma said. "This is not something nice we're doing, this is something that enriches who we are.”
Hope Church has been reconciling nearly a decade, despite being a part of the more conservative RCA denomination.
"Hope and other RCA congregations have a coalition called Room For All,” Wiersma said. “Our practice around marriage and ordination, I don’t mean to be coy about it, but for us it’s a matter of consistency and integrity.”
LGBTQ marriage and ordination may cause a breakup of the RCA denomination, said Rev. Kent Fry, pastor at Third Reformed Church in Holland. Fry is trying to bridge the gap of his congregation, which is split on the issue.
“[At Third Reformed], we haven’t landed some particular place, and we’re still discerning on this particular issue and walking with people,” Fry said. “It’s not just a matter of focusing on the issue on a theological and theoretical level, we’re dealing with real people, and we need to keep that in mind.”
While this issue rests in limbo for a lot of churches in the area, many LGBTQ people still feel “less-than” in the faith community, Wiersma said.
“We still hear stories of violence of exclusion done to people of violence that people turn on themselves that’s very much real,” he said.
Everyone in the Holland community is on a journey, Scott said. She works with around 20 congregants once a month in a “Journey to Inclusion” class.
“It will be done and over with when everybody is loved equally and welcome and appreciated and celebrated for the gifts that they offer and not for who they love,” Scott said.
The standard image of the faith community in Holland is narrow, Fry said.
"I think things are more complicated, more diverse and people are [giving] a lot more thought and discernment to this than people give them credit for," Fry said.
Resources: "Out in Faith" a monthly meeting with supportive pastors at the Out on the Lakeshore Community Center, located on Columbia Avenue in Holland.
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