Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Yates.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in eastern Kentucky, the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. I learned about independence and interdependence in that tight knit culture. Each person should be able to care for themselves and everyone should take care of their neighbor. Overtime I started to see the beauty and contradictions in that culture. The distrust of those who were outsiders fueled racist ideas and limited the role of women. It often boxed people in with a distrust of the outside world, even if that outside world provided amazing opportunities. My mother had left and came back with a Masters Degree. She saw the world differently. I saw how she loved everyone, even if they were different and even if they did not fit in. I wanted to live that life.
After high school, I moved to California to attend Chapman University and Chapman sent me all over the country as a student leader representing the school. My world opened up and I got to meet people with diverse identities that I had only heard about on television or as the but of someone’s joke back home. I saw the beauty, the hurt, and the resilience in people. I wanted to live that life.
I moved to Lexington, KY to complete my Masters of Divinity- closer to my parents, and where the change of seasons felt familiar. I started working in a church, forged a family with my best friend, bounced around Kentucky, Missouri, and Indiana and started to find my voice. As my career and ministry evolved, two discoveries (besides my two children) profoundly shaped me. First was my diagnosis with ADHD, which I came to learn was severe. The second was learning about trauma informed care. The first discovery helped me better understand myself and what I needed to be at my best. The second taught me that we are all hurting and healing, individually and as communities, and that when we judge each other it is often because we are asking the wrong questions.
In 2016, my wife got a job in Fullerton, CA and we moved the family west to a place that has always felt like a second home to me. My children went from schools with a combined 5% diversity to the beautiful buffet of cultures that make up Southern California. I did not have a long-term plan for myself but took a part time position as pastor of Covina Community Church to help pay the bills. The church only had about a dozen people and felt like it was on its last breath, but they reflected that CA diversity and they felt called to welcome all God’s people. That was the life I was trying to live.
Nine years later, Covina Community Church has a community that is over 40 people strong with a network of nonprofit partners that spans all of LA County. The Church is slowly growing and has taken huge steps in embodying the beloved community we read about in scripture. Over the years, they voted to be “open and affirming” to the LGBTQ community. They voted to be a welcoming and empowering for those with mental health challenges. They changed the bylaws to make sure restorative justice principles were the foundational structure rather than corporate processes and rules of order. The people forged a powerful community that welcomes everyone and the encourage each other to grow. They mentor each other, pray for each other, and show up for each other. In this community, I”m just one of many with a diagnosis that makes me neurodiverse. In this community, I’m just one more beautiful but broken person trying to get things right.
Of course, I’m also something more. I’m also a cis-straight white guy over fifty. I’m the demographic of the oppressor for most of the community. It is a strange journey that brings a kid from the hills of KY to the canyons and valleys of SoCal. It is a strange journey from being taught about the importance of individual resilience and caring for your neighbor, to living out those values in profound ways. In a time when voices, claiming to be Christian, attack the diversity of God’s people, I find myself in a position to apologize for the past harms of the church to those who need to hear it. I also find myself with all the privilege of my demographic to stand up and call B.S. on the politically manipulated messages of Christian Nationalism that have found their way into places of power.
Today, I am still serving part time as Pastor at Covina Community Church, which the community often just calls, “The Rainbow Church.” I also serve as Vice President of a national ministry that equips students to lead with a global perspective, grounded in the ethics and values of Jesus. I get to help students connect with resources, mentors, new ideas, and peers that will challenge and support them. I also get to step back as a parent and watch my two adult children take their place in this world, thankful for the kind of life they want to live.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My ADHD was a challenge from childhood, but I did not have a name for it. I knew I didn’t fit in. I knew I got picked on a lot. Looking back, I was an only child who grew up outside of town with very few opportunities to play with other children and my best friend was an imaginary bear I would play with in the woods around our home Of course I got picked on. As I got older, I was slow to pick up on social cues. I was insecure and lacked a filter for what I said. I assumed my world view was everyones and was horrible – almost incapable of active listening. Of course I got bullied. My vulnerability and authenticity helped me draw in some close friends, but I often wore them out. My selfrighoutsness was my biggest defense mechanism and while it did protect me and give me a sense of safety, it also kept me from self reflection and growth. After my diagnosis,which was in my early 30s, I began learning about myself in new ways. I learned the power of therapy and self care practices. I also started learning a lot more about others as my focus shifted from protecting and promoting myself to discovering the gifts and beauty in others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Along the way, I learned that my brain works differently from others. I see patterns and pieces, like the world is a puzzle. I meet people and immediately start thinking about how we might collaborate. I start thinking about who I know that they might benefit from knowing. When I look at organizations, I see people and am curious about their lives. I also see structure charts in my head and wonder if these structures actually serve these people? How do the pieces really go together? My brain keeps generating ideas, the blessing of ADHD. As I’ve grown (and gotten medicated), I’m better able to chanel that creative energy into the world around me. Sometimes it is just for me. I will paint or draw, or write something new. Sometimes it comes out in my work as I imagine new ways engage the community, teach people to care for each other, or pull partners together to make a difference.
On any given day, I might be found in a zoom meeting, organizing an event, or in someone’s home praying over a difficult decision, or at a vigil on a street corner in response to ICE raids. On any given day, I might be working from a office, my home, a cafe near my next event, or sitting at Disneyland (my favorite deployed office), dreaming up what comes next and what oneday might be.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
We live right down the road from Disneyland, so when I’m in a Zoom meeting and someone sees the Mark Twain river boat pass behind me, that is not a virtual background. I take my computer with me and work from somewhere in the park about once a week.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.CovinaCommunityUCC.org
Image Credits
All of these are personal photos from events or taken with my camera for my use.
