DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ celebrates the 55th anniversary of its founding on July 30, with several events planned to mark the occasion.
“As we move toward the 60th, we give thanks for what we’ve become,” said the Rev. Neil Thomas, senior pastor of the church.
The celebration begins tonight, Friday, July 25, with an All-Church Anniversary Party described as “a festive gathering for all ages to celebrate our 55th year together.
Then Sunday morning, July 27, is billed as Anniversary Sunday Worship and Praise.
On Saturday, Aug. 2, the third annual Cathedral Cabaret takes place at the Rose Room, inside S4 at 3911 Cedar Springs Road, presented by the church’s music ministry.
Thomas said that next year they’re planning to bring back the Hero of Hope Award, which disappeared during COVID.
Founded in 1970, Cathedral of Hope has become an integral part of the LGBTQ+ community in Dallas in a way no other church in another city is central to its LGBTQ+ community.
Thomas said when he was pastor at Founders MCC in Los Angeles, he would say there’s a thousand things to do in L.A. on Sunday and then there’s church. In Dallas, he says there’s church on Sunday and then there’s a thousand other things to do.
Cathedral of Hope may not have been the first LGBTQ+ organization in Dallas, but it’s the oldest one in Dallas — and possibly in Texas — still in existence.
Thomas spoke about the role of a predominantly LGBTQ+ congregation in Dallas and the world, noting that the church’s televised ministry that can be seen around the world is one of its most important contributions.
“We’re helping reclaim Christianity from a nationalistic world view,” he said. “Folks are tuning in to hear a message of radical inclusion.”
At the recent UCC general synod, Thomas said, one attendee told him, “I’m entrenched in my local church, but I watch Cathedral of Hope as a benchmark for what we can become.”
And what does Cathedral of Hope strive to become?
Locally, Thomas said, the church plans one more building on its property at 5910 Cedar Springs Road — an outreach building that would accelerate all the activities now going on in the church’s fellowship hall. That includes working with the homeless, providing meals for those who are food insecure and LGBTQ+ work with youth and groups like the Dallas Bears and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
Church officials are also planning a new columbarium down by the creek because the current one, located at the base of the John Thomas Bell Wall, is almost filled.
Thomas said his position at Cathedral of Hope is the job of a lifetime. “Personally, I have no plans to move. My plan is to retire from Cathedral in a decade or so,” he said.
He also said he would like to leave the church with no debt and with the campus building plan completed.
And then he has some grander plans, like “reclaiming the sacred and the holy for every human being.”
Thomas’ vision for Cathedral’s legacy? “I would like to believe we are seen as a beacon of hope,” he said. “Back in the day, we wanted to be seen as a real church.”
Today, Thomas wants Cathedral of Hope to be seen as collaborative, saying, “I can say and do things others tell me they can’t.”
The pastor added that it is important to him for the church to be seen as a place for families, no matter what your family looks like.
“I’ve got my own kid,” he said. “Children and families are very important to me. I want this to be the church of choice for my kid.”
That’s something of a change for the church since Thomas was called in 2015: Children who were raised in the church no longer feel they have to leave when they turn 18. One recent wedding there was for someone who grew up attending Cathedral of Hope. Thomas joked that the wedding, which was for a straight couple, is part of the church’s radical inclusion.
Many churches in Dallas and around the country call themselves open and affirming. Many are evolving.
But at Cathedral of Hope, Thomas said, “We’re not just open and affirming, we are open and celebrating. What we want is people to feel their whole identity is embraced.”
To make sure transgender members know they are loved and valued, the church started a transgender council. It began as a social group and quickly moved into doing advocacy work.
Although some in the LGBTQ+ community want to remove the “T” and even the drag community, Thomas said to remember they’ve always been part of the community and regularly took the lead on gay issues.
“That brings a sense of grief for me because we’re not remembering our history,” Thomas said of the efforts to separate the transgender and drag communities from the LGBTQ+ community overall. “Our movement has always been about expanding the table.
“Cathedral of Hope and churches like us have changed the landscape of Christianity in ways we probably don’t know,” Thomas continued, calling Cathedral of Hope the area’s best kept secret.
“It amazes me when people haven’t heard of Cathedral of Hope,” he said. “I hope, when I retire, we’re on the lips of every person seeking a relationship with God in a world where we’ve been excluded. It’s what gets me up every day and up and onto the pulpit every Sunday.”