Columbia’s Garden of Grace United Church of Christ honored the Network this morning with its annual community service award to recognize the work our members are doing to advance gay rights in South Carolina. “Equality comes in one size,” said Brett Bursey as he accepted the plaque from Pastor Andy Sidden. “And it fits everyone.”

Today Garden of Grace celebrated its 14th year with ice cream and a slide show trip down Memory Lane. The photo montage tracked the history of the congregation, including the building of the new church on Atlas Road, where they moved two years ago.

It was our first service at the church, and we were gratified to see how diverse a congregation it was. (Looked kind of like a Network meeting.) Congratulations to all of them for creating and sustaining a faith community that excludes no one and reflects the true values of a loving Christ. Here in the Bible Belt, ironically, that’s sometimes hard to find.

Becci Robbins