Youth Scholarship Established!
HCUCC member Barry Holcomb and his partner, Michael Brooks, made a significant gift to the church this month. The Michael G. Brooks charitable gift annuity was gifted to Holy Covenant in 2011 with an annual financial gift anticipated of approximately $2,000 from 2011-2031. These funds are intended to be used for the development of Holy Covenant youth, either through college level financial educational scholarship support or through other educational activities deemed appropriate by the Christian education team. (Students, they are available for use in 2012, watch for the application process.)
Barry has been active with our Communications Committee, taking lots of photos, and is the one who updates our church website. He and Michael have been together for eleven years when as Barry says, “Michael and I said our promises to one another on Easter Sunday morning 2000. When we first met, I was intrigued by learning that he was a 3D artist.”
Michael was born in Spencer, NC. During his childhood, his father moved the family to Shallotte, NC. Michael feels Shallotte is where he was raised. Barry came from the little 3-stoplight town of Clinton, SC. He was married and had two kids and worked in Special Education. He moved to Charlotte to find a new job to better provide for his family.
How long have you been in Charlotte? I moved to Charlotte in November 1985. Michael joined me here in August of 2000.
Although Barry has been attending Holy Covenant since January 2010, Michael isn’t comfortable in church. Aside from suffering a great deal of ill-treatment from people in the name of Christianity, Michael fears having an epileptic seizure in public. Michael is a believer and prays privately.
What attracted you to Holy Covenant?
After my wife passed away, I finally confronted the feelings I had fought with my entire life and accepted that I am gay. I had been attending a very fundamental church and felt I would not be accepted there. I searched several gay-friendly churches, but I felt the words from the pulpit were so watered down that they were meaningless. I gave up my search and did not attend any church for 10 years.
In late 2009 Michael was very ill and his doctor led me to believe that he could die at any time. I decided that I had to make a connection with some church even if I was uncomfortable there. A minister friend in another city told me about HCUCC.
I came not knowing what to expect but fearing I really wouldn’t like it. When I sat on the pew, heard the old hymns I love, and heard the Word preached, I was completely overwhelmed. I sat and wept through the entire service. I saw traditional families and same-sex couples rubbing shoulders and intermingling completely at ease and was dumbstruck by it. I had never witnessed this before. When Nancy shook my hand, she asked how I liked the service. I choked up when I answered, “It feels like home.”
“I came to Holy Covenant to find a place to make peace with God over Michael’s inevitable death. Instead, I found a place where I can live.”
Michael is unable to work now, but previously he has been a landscaper, a freelance photographer, and a 3D artist. Michael taught Barry how to create 3D texture maps and they worked together brokering for several 3D companies. They are still receiving some royalties from those creations. After leaving the field of Special Education, Barry worked as a restaurant manager for 25 years. He now works as a home care assistant. Michael has liver disease which due to his epilepsy is untreatable. It makes him weak and he tires very easily. One side effect is that it makes it difficult for him to concentrate.
This scholarship fund was created in Michael’s honor because, as Barry says, “Michael is the bravest, the most giving, and the most forgiving person I have ever known. He taught me everything I know about photography and computers. If he sees injustice or unfairness, he is like a badger fighting to correct it. I am creating this scholarship in his honor because I want his name to be remembered long after he is gone.’
