Celebrating two years of Affirmation Sunday morning class

By Maggie Wainscott

Sunday morning classes at Highland Park United Methodist Church are the lifeblood of our community. They certainly make our big church feel small when coming together in groups to encourage growing as disciples as we study, serve, and build community. As one of HPUMC’s LGBTQ ministry resources, Affirmation class is no different! This month we celebrate Affirmation’s second birthday and all the wonderful siblings in Christ who make up our class.

In early 2019, a group of HPUMC members came together to form Affirmation, a class for all individuals who want to learn about or deepen a relationship with God, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, age, economic status, or disability. The class was purposely created by its members for LGBTQ people and allies at HPUMC to come together in Christian discipleship. Affirmation is a loving, inclusive, diverse, healing, and supportive community that strives for peace, justice, and compassion.

On June 9, 2019, we held our first ever class. In our first year, we blossomed into a full group of people who enjoy not only coming together as affirming individuals but also as close friends who share in a Christian purpose and pride so much bigger than ourselves. In our second year of worshiping together, we’ve found that learning more about diversity and diving into inclusion has a snowball effect—celebrating authentic selves only builds strength and encourages even more sharing of lived experiences.

Sunday Mornings

For the majority of our first year, Affirmation met in room 216 at HPUMC’s main campus, joining together in great joy to discover meaningful Christian discipleship. It’s our time for spiritual connection through studying scriptures and personal and group reflection on growing closer to God. Oftentimes, class is spent coloring and creating art, too.

Whether it’s a class with Rev. Walt Marcum to explore how the Dead Sea Scrolls bring new light to contemporary scholarship, or diving into discussion with SMU’s Director of Global Theological Education, Dr. Robert Hunt, on the topic of cultural intelligence, our class is usually in deep thought about how scriptures, culture, and experiences weave together to shape and inform our lives as followers of Christ. Affirmation has also taken a deep dive into responding to God’s voice with Rev. Susan Robb to learn further about the nature of being called. It’s our hope that every Sunday morning class is a time to engage with great minds and great hearts.

As the world shifted to keep safe during the pandemic, like many groups, Affirmation changed its weekly in-person classes to online meetings. For more than a year, we’ve virtually gathered for our Sunday morning class, and while we long to be together again in person, telecommuting into class has opened up many opportunities to connect with more people.

Class Socials

Affirmation class believes sharing in life together means interacting outside the walls of the church and engaging in the real world of Dallas and local areas. Sometimes we come together for an afternoon sip at Union Coffee House or for family-style dinners at members’ homes.

One class social was an evening dinner with Break Bread Break Borders (BBBB), an organization empowering immigrants and refugees through food and culture. BBBB caters with a cause as it mentors women by professional chefs, restaurants, caterers, and culinary consultants. In an evening with HPUMC’s Affirmation class, BBBB shared food, culture, and powerful stories to break bread in community while also breaking borders at the same time.

Celebrations to be Continued

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are inherently good. We know the Trinity’s relationship within itself is good, self-sacrificial, submissive to one another, and holy, each of these in their purest forms. But please don’t mistake holy as distant and uninvolved. The Trinity’s holiness is directly related to proximity—up close and personal relationship with one another. Full stop, no matter our differences. This is holy ground.

Affirmation takes every opportunity to lean into that holy ground, opening our hearts to the lived experiences of our siblings in Christ, especially individuals who haven’t had a seat at the table traditionally. In class on Sunday mornings you will find members speaking up about their journeys as LGBTQ people, as well as special guests and friends who come to share their experiences as individuals of minority groups. With the Black Lives Matter movement and the empowering times for the LGBTQ community, both full of their own joys and complexities, it’s like God is showing how to deepen our love and strengthen its muscle. As if he’s saying, “My children, love on this. My loves, be of this.” That whisper couldn’t be more clear. Take root in diversity and inclusivity. It’s central to how Christ calls us to live.

Our church is a big family. For members of Affirmation, the hope of the class is to be a shining light of full inclusion within the church. For individuals visiting HPUMC church for the first time or long-time members, Affirmation is a place for guaranteed laughter, stories, and Christian fellowship. Personally, as an ally, I very much enjoy the people who attend our class, their stories, and the heartfelt, healthy discussions that bloom under the umbrella of a winning love and audacious compassion. Being with these friends is a genuinely good feeling I can't get enough of and keep coming back for more.

While HPUMC’s Affirmation is two years in the making, the class has many more Sunday mornings and celebrations ahead for its members and church community. Our doors are always open to new friends! Find us on social media at @HPUMCAffirmation Facebook page, and join us on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am on Zoom!