Why am I putting so much time into writing, creating worship materials, and sharing resources online? The short answer is: I can’t not. This feels like the shape my calling has taken – something I’ve been longing to do more.
But there’s a longer story behind it all.
A heart strangely warmed – and a call to help the church connect
I became a Christian as a young adult, and in classic Methodist language, my heart was “strangely warmed”. That experience of God’s love didn’t just comfort me; it made me feel called to do something – to help the church connect more deeply with the world and with people’s real lives.
Early on, I offered what I could: music. I played piano in church, and people encouraged me. That encouragement mattered. It helped me see that my gifts could serve the gathered community.
At some point I started to write hymns. I didn’t really know what I was doing – I just felt inspired and thought, “I’ll have a go.” My first hymn was sung by a group of local churches. As we sang, I remember looking around and seeing many people in tears, moved by the words. I felt overwhelmed that something I’d written could touch people so deeply. It was like God saying, “This is part of your work: helping people find words for what they’re feeling and hoping.”
The inclusion of one of my hymns in Singing the Faith was another quiet affirmation. It wasn’t about prestige; it was a sign that the church was willing to sing words that had come out of my wrestling, hope and prayer. That has stayed with me and continue to encourage me.
Today, I still understand my calling as a Local Preacher in a broad way. Preaching isn’t just about filling dates on the plan. It’s about finding ways to communicate the gospel that are relevant, honest and connected – in sermons, in songs, in written prayers, in online resources. I see everything I create as part of that preaching ministry.
Discovering liberation and queer theology
As I went deeper into study and serving in the church, I began to encounter liberation theology, queer theology and other justice-focussed ways of reading scripture. They gave language to something I already sensed: that God stands with people who are pushed to the margins, and that Jesus comes not just to comfort individuals but to set people free.
Looking at scripture through a justice-focussed lens, I recognised that:
- God consistently stands alongside those who are excluded or oppressed.
- The gospel is not only about a future heaven, but about God’s reign breaking in now.
- Salvation isn’t just “one day in glory”, but a present reality we are called to live into and work for.
I refuse to see salvation purely as a future hope. I preach – and write – about the present reign of God, and our invitation to recognise it and join in with God’s mission for justice and liberation.
Alongside this, my own journey as a queer Christian has been significant. I know what it feels like to be an outsider in certain expressions of church and Christian faith: to hear good news that somehow does not quite include you. Over the years, I’ve journeyed with many queer people, helping them see that Christian faith is not reserved for heterosexual, cisgender lives, but that God’s love is genuinely inclusive. Those conversations have been holy ground for me – real “God moments” that have deepened my conviction that our theology and worship must reflect the wideness of God’s welcome.
Learning from diverse communities and children
My teaching career took me into classrooms with children who had a wide variety of needs and came from diverse backgrounds. Working with them sharpened my awareness that every person is made in the image of God – and that the world, including the church, is often designed around a narrow idea of who counts as “typical”.
I saw, very concretely, how systems can exclude and make people feel small or worthless. That experience sits right alongside my theological convictions. If people are created in God’s image, then our worship, our resources and our spaces should help everyone to thrive – not just those who fit one pattern.
I’ve also had the joy of being part of diverse worshipping communities: spaces where people come from different backgrounds, with different needs, perspectives and access requirements. Making worship inclusive in those contexts is a challenge. There’s tension. Compromise. Constant learning. But it also creates a rich context where we are stretched and enlarged.
I’ve become very aware that worship often leans heavily into one way of doing things – one style, one mode of engagement – and that this simply doesn’t work for everyone. I’m keen that as we listen to the voices of everyone in the spaces we curate, we allow those voices to change what we do. That’s part of why my resources often offer multiple ways in: words, images, movement, questions, silence, music.
Preaching beyond the pulpit
All of this has reshaped how I see my calling.
I love the challenge of inspiring people – affirming their journey and who they are, while gently nudging them to see something in a new way. I don’t want to produce materials that tell people what to think; I want to offer resources that help people encounter God, wrestle with scripture, and find language for their own faith.
For me, preaching is bigger than the pulpit. It includes:
- A hymn that helps someone pray when they can’t find words.
- A meditation that lets a traumatised person hear the gospel without being crushed.
- A small group resource that gives people confidence to talk about faith.
- A song video that holds a community in reflective silence.
- A lectionary book that opens up justice-shaped readings of scripture for leaders and congregations.
I write and share these resources because I’ve seen how powerful it can be when someone finally hears the gospel in a way that includes them and calls them into God’s liberating love.
Free resources and Holyvity: two expressions of one call
GaryHopkins.net is the place where I share free worship materials, lectionary resources, music and reflections. I want there to be a well people can draw from without worrying about what they can afford. I know how tough ministry can be, especially in small churches, and I want to offer something that lightens the load rather than adds to it.
At the same time, I’m seeking to balance these free resources with materials published and sold through Holyvity – the shop and publishing space I’ve created. Income from Holyvity helps to fund the ongoing work of writing, composing, recording, designing and sharing. It also gives a platform for other people’s work: I’m passionate about more voices being heard, more experiences and research and ideas finding their way into print, songs and visual resources.
For me, these aren’t separate projects. They are two expressions of the same call:
- To help the church connect more deeply with God and with the world.
- To centre those who have often been on the edges.
- To make inclusive, justice-shaped faith feel tangible in words, music and practices.
What I hope for
When I sit down to write a hymn, plan a lectionary resource, or record a song, there are some hopes that stay close to my heart.
I hope that:
- Churches will create more inclusive, inspiring worship – spaces where a wide range of people genuinely encounter God and recognise themselves in the story.
- Communities will become better at seeing how justice flows through the heart of scripture, rather than treating it as an optional “add-on”.
- People will grow more confident in talking about faith with one another and with those beyond the church’s walls.
- Leaders and congregations will discover new courage to challenge injustice and reshape their life together in the light of God’s reign.
- I’ll hear stories of transformation – not because of anything magical in my work, but because the Spirit can use simple words, songs and ideas to deepen faith and widen love.
I also hope we will keep having rich theological conversations about who we are in this contemporary world: what it means to proclaim and live an inclusive, justice-seeking faith in our time. If my resources can help to spark or sustain those conversations, I will be very grateful.
That, in the end, is why I write and why I share. This is my small part in the bigger work God is doing: helping to shape worship and resources that honour the image of God in every person, and that point, again and again, to the liberating love at the heart of the gospel.