Good
afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, friends of Hamilton Square.
My name is Hap Barko, and my wife Margaret and I are very
honored to be here today and join you for this lovely celebration.
God in His wisdom and sovereignty placed Hamilton Square
Baptist Church in this city, in this place, at this time,
for His glory. We had the privilege of being a part of God’s
plan in the city of San Francisco back in September of 1993.
Many of you here today may have only heard about the events
of that time, and many others here have been used by God
to hold up the hands of this church’s leadership during
that exciting time. My family and I look back gratefully
upon those events because they changed our life and set
our course for the last 13 years.
On September
23, 1993, the church had a special speaker for the evening
service. Lou Sheldon is the Director of a group called the
Traditional Values Coalition. With offices in Washington
and California, Lou’s work is well known among the
more liberal elements of society, and San Francisco, in
particular. The city’s militant homosexual movement
took the opportunity of his appearance that night to stage
a protest here at the church. The protest was not a peaceful
one, and quickly became violent. People were assaulted as
they tried to attend the service that night; the building
and property were defaced, the American flag flying over
the church was cut down and the “lambda flag”
was raised, and the police refused to respond to our call
for assistance. Finally, as the doors of the sanctuary were
about to be battered down by this angry mob, our call to
9-1-1 forced the city’s riot police to come and restore
order. We left the church that night through a cordon of
police officers, who protected us as the protestors screamed
profanity and shouted, “Give us your children.”
The
next day, Pastor and I were in the Mayor’s office
with the Mayor, the Chief of Police, and the City Attorney,
playing the audio tape of those events for them. Dr. Innes
declared, “This cannot be permitted to happen again.
This event is a line in the sand, to mark the stand that
Christians in America will take in the name of religious
freedom.”
From
that day, we learned a lot about politics, the media, and
the power that can be wielded by those who control such
forces. The mainstream media attempted a total blackout
of those events, and said, “Nothing happened.”
Concerned citizens from all across America flooded the telephone
switchboards of City Hall, but their phone calls were diverted
to the City Sewage Treatment department. We learned that
people lie to protect and promote their own agenda. We learned
that truth is often sacrificed on the altar of political
expediency. Thank God He is greater, and He watches over
His own.
We planned
a “Pastor’s Freedom Rally” for early November,
and invited hundreds of Christian leaders to come to our
city and take a stand for righteousness. This church hosted
approximately 400 pastors and Christian leaders, who joined
us to hold high the cause of Christ, and make a statement
to the City of San Francisco, that truth, freedom to worship,
and the cause of Christ, was alive and well. We marched
from the church to City Hall. This time we had complete
police protection. As we approached the steps of City Hall,
the protestors parted like the Red Sea! As we waited outside
the chambers of the Board of Supervisors, a protestor began
to sing a sad, mournful song. His performance didn’t
last long as 400 men lifted the rotunda off the building
by singing in unison – Amazing Grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me . . .
Heroes
are generally ordinary people like you and me, who find
themselves in a situation that demands uncommon valor. They
do their duty, and do what’s right, regardless of
the price. I’ve found that God uses ordinary people
like us to accomplish His purposes -- People who are willing
to do their duty for the cause of Christ, who are willing
to glorify Him, sometimes in the face of great adversity.
Hamilton Square Baptist Church is a church that has a unique
place in God’s plan, and I’m so glad we had
the privilege of being part of that plan. We are merely
the instruments; God gets the glory. But, oh! What a privilege
it is to be part of the symphony – part of the team!
Folks,
I’ve been privileged to do some pretty interesting
things in my lifetime. I’ve been in some scary situations,
and I’ve been in some exciting situations, but nothing
in my experience comes close to the feeling I had in City
Hall that day, amid 400 of God’s servants, singing
God’s praises in the lion’s den!
I thank
God for this church, for the leadership here, for these
dear people. You are our family. Thank you for allowing
us to celebrate this day with you all. Most of all, thank
the Lord for His mercy and grace, and for the privilege
of serving Him wherever He places us.