Allendale Penny Cost
The Rev. Andy Oliver (left), Allendale UMC senior pastor, along with Ms. Penny Cost and the Rev. David Franks, pastoral care pastor, prepare to serve Holy Communion on World Communion Sunday, Oct. 3, 2022. (UM Insight Screencapture from Allendale video on Vimeo).
This is a response to the post in the private Facebook group United Methodist Clergy concerning my choice to invite Ms. Penny Cost to preach at Allendale UMC. The comments were shut off on the original post, but I wanted to offer my thoughts as the pastor responsible.
I invited her to preach for several reasons. She is an incredible preacher, grounded as Allendale is, in Wesleyan and liberation theology. I have a dozen+ trans members and half of the youth group are non-binary. I want all people to see people like themselves called by God to preach the Gospel. I try to share my pulpit as much as possible with people who have been relegated to the margins of our church and society. Having a drag queen preach is as normative for Allendale as some of y’all putting a flag on your altar.
The other elder and I pictured wore chasubles for the first time because it was World Communion Sunday and also because we wanted to look fabulous for this special day. We only have pink and purple chasubles, as they were gifts from pastors who had passed. The other elder pictured is Rev. David Franks who is retired from Cal-Pac. He was infamously a member of the Sacramento 68 same sex wedding in 1999. He now serves as our pastoral care pastor. David and I both officiate same-sex weddings at Allendale. I am currently under a complaint that is in abeyance.
For Allendale, this was a joyful worship service. I don’t know if you’ve ever invited a pastor to preach at your church and experienced a sermon that fit the moment and congregation perfectly… that’s what we experienced. It felt like a liminal passage way to a new chapter leaving the pandemic.
I get that many of this might seem odd for your context. It was powerful evangelism for us. Good news was proclaimed to people present from the most hated segment of our communities. Many if not most people at Allendale would not find a home in most churches nearby. Ms. Penny Cost was an angel in heels appearing to shepherds in the fields on the night shift, telling them that Good News had arrived on their doorstep. What was once the margins is the center.
Many of you do practices that would not work at my church. Some of you use the American flag and sing patriotic music. Others celebrate war (also listed as incompatible with Christian teaching btw). One pastor from GA who called us out, celebrated “cowboy church” on world communion Sunday. Some of you use puppets or do ventriloquism or God forbid, Christian miming or clowns . Some of you haven’t had anyone other than a white, straight male in your pulpit in the last year. Some of you say “he” exclusively for God (and never use she for the Holy Spirit)...
If “cowboy church” works in your context, great. I’m not going to get upset about it. I’m going to do my best to witness to God’s love and grace, and try to show the Church what church could look like. If what Allendale does is not your thing, understand that my people are not your people. The calling we have at the corner of 38th Ave and Haines Rd is different than the expression of the Body of Christ where you are. That’s a good thing.
Also understand that when you use vitriolic language because of your hatred of the trans community or maybe because of your fear, you inspire violence. This week, Allendale’s service has received vitriol from The IRD, the lead story on InfoWars, and this clergy page. My greatest fear is that something one of you says will inspire or call some lunatic with a gun to “cleanse” us. I am 100% willing to give my life for this, but people that come to my church shouldn’t have to make that part of their decision to follow Jesus.
Finally, I challenge you to watch the sermon of this first year seminary student (I will post it in the comments). I couldn’t preach like she did at that age. I can’t preach like it now. She has a gift. It is a gift I believe God has given to edify The UMC and maybe even some of you who are angry reading this post. Listen to her words. And if they make you want to run her off a cliff, remember Jesus’ words did the same thing 2000 years ago.
The Rev. Andy Oliver serves as senior pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Florida Annual Conference). This post is republished with the author's permission. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please contact the author via Facebook.