Jack Evans and George Harris married in February to make a statement to the Methodist church and support the Rev. Bill McElvaney rather than to solidify their relationship
LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE | Jack Evans and George Harris were married at Midway Hills Christian Church this year after more than 50 years as a couple.
Not much has changed for Jack Evans, 84, and George Harris, 81, since they married in February. The most surprising thing to the Dallas couple — who have been together 53 years — was the amount of publicity that surrounded their wedding ceremony, one that challenged Methodist church policy.
“After 53 years, there’s nothing you can do different,” Evans said. “But it was important to stand in front of the congregation.”
Harris said there was one thing they forgot to do during the three weeks they had to plan their wedding. They forgot to invite their families. But Harris had a reason for that.
“The old ones are a pain in the ass,” he said.
Maybe on Harris’ side, but Evans’ mother always introduced Harris as her other son.
Evans said his sister saw the wedding on the news and said she would have come. Harris said his nephew thought it was great they were married and would have come as well, had he been invited.
But both men said the ceremony wasn’t about them.
“We wanted to make a statement to the Methodist Church,” Harris said.
The wedding took place at Midway Hills Christian Church, because Methodist Church policy prevents a Methodist church from hosting a wedding and its ministers from performing a wedding.
But the Rev. Bill McElvaney, who is retired, announced at Northaven United Methodist Church in January that he would perform same-sex weddings. Harris and Evans signed up to be his first couple.
The Rev. Eric Folkerth, Northaven’s current pastor, said he thought Evans and Harris’ wedding was important in a number of ways. Folkerth attended the ceremony at Midway Hills.
“Jack and George are so important to us as role models,” Follkerth said. “They’ve been the embodiment of a loving relationship for all of our members for so long.”
While members of the church were aware they were making a statement with the ceremony, Folkerth said the event was also the perfect confluence of love and joy.
“It’s a shame this is still such a big issue,” Folkerth said. “The way we live here within our walls, couples are couples.”
He said no one at Northaven gives it a second thought: “It’s not something we’re wrestling with.”
For the LGBT community, Folkerth said be believes the wedding sent a message of hope.
“Any time a couple is together 50-plus years, it’s a beautiful thing,” he said. But, he added, people are touched with Evans and Harris, in particular.
“For so long, they’ve been willing to give of themselves,” he said. “They’re mentors to so many people.”
He said they help others with grace, ease and humility.
The week before Evans and Harris were married, Dallas media was filled with stories about their relationship. Every local Dallas station with news broadcasts was at Midway Hills filming the ceremony.
“TV grasped their powerful story of commitment,” Folkerth said.
After 50 years, their relationship makes it impossible to deny love and commitment among same-sex couples, he said.
Because media was also filled with stories of the Rev. Frank Schaefer, a Methodist minister from Pennsylvania who had recently been defrocked for performing his son’s same-sex wedding, the local story was picked up across the country.
Evans said they were having dinner at a new restaurant at Trinity Groves recently. He noticed a young man looking at him. When Evans got up to go to the bathroom, the young man followed him. He asked if they were the couple that married in the Methodist church. Evans said they were. The young man told him before he and his wife recently moved to Dallas, they saw a story about their wedding on the news. He congratulated them.
“Making a difference has been our focus through the years,” Harris said. “We want to make it better.
Evans said times have changed. He recalled the first time they went to a bar on Cedar Springs Road.
“We drove around the block several times before we parked to make sure there were no police,” he said.
The couple, who created the Stonewall Business Association, which later became the North Texas GLBT Chamber, and who recently started The Dallas Way history project, have served on the boards of a number of organizations including Resource Center, Turtle Creek Chorale and Black Tie Dinner.
After 53 years together, six months of those as a married couple, some things never change.
“We’re trying to determine what our next project is,” Evans said.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 25, 2014.