Meet Emily Flemming

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Emily Flemming.

Hi Emily, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I became the pastor of Christ Church United Methodist on 7th and Colorado in July 2021. The church had been meeting virtually through Zoom for 18 months and was eager to resume in-person activities, but unsure how to protect all of the COVID-vulnerable populations. We started slowly: worship services with red, yellow, and green dots to indicate our social distancing preferences; pews closed off to allow 6 ft. of distance between households; masks required, then encouraged, and now welcome.

The church has more than doubled in the past 2.5 years and we are seeing new community connections form as historic ones are revitalized. The Rocky Mountain Arts Association, which runs the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus and the Denver Women’s Chorus, is back on stage and invited me to join their Board as a faith liaison. We are still hosting ACA and AA 12-step meetings, and our Saturday morning group often welcomes around 100 people.

We have 2 affordable apartments on-site, as well as offices for like-minded businesses (sustainable consumer goods, spiritual direction, senior living communities). We are an election site and host other civic organizations and neighborhood associations, as well as special events for LGBTQ+ groups like the Center on Colfax and the Rocky Mountain Rainbeaus, who use our Fellowship Hall for square dancing.

Last spring we replaced our north lawn with a pollinator garden to improve the air quality in our neighborhood and offer people waiting for a table at Snooze a safe, cool place to sit and rest, away from the traffic of Colorado Blvd. Last fall, we began taking the bagel donations we receive each Saturday from Einstein Bagels (just north of us) and used to feed people after worship on Sunday, over to the Heartbeat men’s shelter at Central Presbyterian Church.

We are just revealing our revamped Nursery this Sunday (which also happens to be Palm Sunday, where we wave palm fronds and remember Jesus will be crucified next Friday and raised to life on Easter Sunday). There are original murals painted over the last year by 30+ local artists and volunteers.

Afterward, we walk the neighborhood to distribute sack lunches, water bottles, and clean socks to our unhoused neighbors as we work to build relationships and help meet their needs. We have had some troubling incidents in the past 2 years: break-ins, petty theft, property damage, and unauthorized encampments.

The two most troubling events were an attempted overdose on our doorstep (grateful for the first responders who arrived quickly) and the lit crackpipe thrown into dry leaves against our building, filling it with smoke. We have volunteered with the Mayor’s Housing 1000 initiative and are currently working with Catholic Charities and the Colorado Lawyers Association on the clinics legally processing the huge inflow of immigrants for asylum in our city.

There is no shortage of exciting news and individuals in our community, whom I would be delighted to introduce you to: from transgendered women who transitioned in their 60s to gay men who have been HIV+ for 30 years or more (and who never expected to live this long). We have disabled people and Special Olympians working side-by-side with combat veterans, retired neurosurgeons and professors, active teachers, social workers, and stay-at-home parents.

It is the biggest, wildest, most diverse, and most welcoming community I have ever seen…. and I have been in ministry for 18 years in Germany, Colorado, and Utah. I am originally from SC (raised Evangelical/Southern Baptist) so didn’t even know women COULD become pastors, but after trying my hand at teaching and a successful career in executive search (C-level recruiting) in Munich/Europe, I made Colorado my home in 2011.

Recently divorced (January) from a 13-year marriage, I am now a single mom of two (a 10 years old girl and 7 years old boy) living in Longmont, working in Denver, and keeping the roads hot to live out my calling as a mother, pastor, good neighbor and friend. Zac Nelson, who nominated me /us is an usher, single dad, and longtime church member whose family is well-connected: his mom helps us cater events, and his dad leads our Care Team.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have a personal story filled with struggles (from an alcoholic father, teenage abortion, sexual assault in college, financially and physically abusive first marriage in Germany, second marriage as a pastor filled with betrayals and divorce) but experienced new life and hope in my family, work, friendships, and a new dating relationship (with another pastor who was widowed last year).

But I do not feel that I am the story – the real scoop is this rainbowtastic community called Christ Church, which closes its door to march in Denver Pride together, despite all of our differences, wounds, and needs. We show up and show out for one another… and all are welcome.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Resiliency (surviving and thriving) and healing (forward) are what fuel me. Our church has welcomed outsiders and strangers since the beginning (151 years ago) but the LGBTQ+ focus started in the 1980s and continues today.

Each week I write a blog, plan a worship service, and offer a sermon all designed to educate, inspire, and connect people to healing forward. Everyone handles trauma differently, and we all need more patience, kindness, and compassion in our lives!

What are your plans for the future?
I am looking forward to seeing how all the new members and visitors continue to shape the mission and ministry of this community. Each time we connect with a local business, I am excited: from giving out Stargazers chocolate stars on Christmas Eve to enjoying Trader Joe’s flowers each Sunday in exchange for employee parking.

We are hoping for some improvements to our facility as the markets continue to recover and our Endowment resumes dividend pay-outs. We want the building to be as welcoming, comfortable, and inclusive as possible. We hope to host a large summer camp for DPS, transform the church into Hogwarts (!), install security cameras, improve the playground facilities, and update the entrance (which is in the back alley, confusing for most people!)

We also hope to hire a professional accompanist for our growing choir and music program, as well as rehire an associate pastor (our last Minister of Discipleship moved on last year) and possibly a seminary intern to help us dream about doing virtual internships and small groups in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.christchurchcolorado.org and www.revemilyf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccumdenver/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCUMDenver
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-flemming-a1065/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@christchurchcolorado266

Image Credits
Jamie Floyd Johnson