Dec. 25—It’s not a stretch to say that Julian Rush lived a bold, unconventional life — particularly for a Methodist pastor from the deep South.

In addition to being one of the first openly gay pastors in Colorado, Rush served as onetime director of the Colorado AIDS Project and was a lifelong civil rights advocate. Don Messer, a retired fellow Methodist pastor and longtime friend of Rush, described him as a “pioneer of inclusiveness in our day and age.”

Some in the Boulder community remember Rush from his time as a youth pastor at the First United Methodist Church. But others remember him as a family man, a close friend, and a musician and composer of unusual creativity and talent.

Rush died on Nov. 28 in Phoenix at age 87.

And although Rush endured pain and difficulty as he came to terms with his sexuality and experienced rejection from others in the church, those close to him see it all as part of his journey to becoming the person he was.

‘We were going to be his people’

Born in 1936 in Meridian, Miss., Rush was raised in the Methodist church and started playing piano from a young age. He became a Boy Scout, eventually earning his Eagle badge, and was president of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss.

Even when he was young, Rush took an interest in civil rights. His son, Jason Rush, said even though Julian Rush grew up in the segregated South, something “never struck him as right” about segregation.

“He just had this sixth sense that ‘there’s something not right about this,’ even though he was surrounded by a community that largely said it is OK,” said Jason Rush.

While Julian Rush was earning his master’s degree in sacred theology at Southern Methodist University he became interested in the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., and wanted to be a part of the fight for civil rights. So he drove to Alabama in 1965 and joined the third Selma March to protest Black Americans’ lack of voting rights.

Rush married in 1965, and he and his wife had two sons. He started working as a Methodist pastor in Fort Worth, Texas, before moving to Colorado with his family in the 1970s. They lived in Colorado Springs for a short while before moving to Boulder. Rush spent several years at First United, and he grew to become a beloved figure in the congregation.

But by the early 1980s, Rush knew something was amiss. He and his wife separated, and he began going to therapy. Eventually, he came to realize he was gay, and he shared this newfound knowledge about himself in confidence with the head preacher at First United. The preacher outed Rush in 1981, to many people’s surprise, and after holding several hearings, the church leadership decided it was best to fire him.

The decision to oust Rush caused a schism in the church. According to Jean Hodges, a longtime First United parishioner and close friend of Rush, many in the congregation were angered that he was seemingly let go with no due process.

“We all were very devoted to Julian, and whether he was gay or not was immaterial to us,” Hodges said. “And when he was let go without anyone really knowing until after the fact, we decided that we were going to be his people.”

Hodges and a group of other devotees formed a “house church” and asked Rush to lead services there. Eventually, the group became too big for the basement and moved into a bigger space, but Hodges and other parishioners kept attending Rush’s services until he moved away.

‘He did live a good life’

By the mid 1990s, Rush had shifted into working with the Colorado AIDS Project. Hodges had returned to First United after leaving for a period of time, and she had become committed to helping it become a member of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a group of United Methodist churches that openly welcomes LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones. But asking the congregation to move in that direction was a tough sell, at first, because there was so much fear around reigniting the rift that Rush’s departure had caused.

In 1995, Hodges, who was working as theater director at Boulder High School at the time, wrote a play and asked Rush to write music and lyrics to go along with it. The story centered around a closeted gay minister and a woman and her husband with a gay son. The musical, called “Caught in the Middle,” was first performed at First United, but it began making the rounds to other churches, and other United Methodists from different places came to see it.

Hodges said the play was “healing in a long-term kind of way,” and she believes it’s part of the reason why, in 1997, First United finally became a reconciling congregation.

“Change is possible. And it happened,” Hodges said. “Julian’s story is something that I hold on to as a blessing that happened out of what was pretty much a personal tragedy for him.”

In addition to Rush’s musical legacy, though, his friends and family remember him as a kind, compassionate, creative person.

When Messer thinks of his old friend, he recalls Rush’s “impeccable integrity,” “quiet courage,” sense of humor and musical giftedness.

Hodges said although there were dark chapters of Rush’s life, it was all part of the process he went through to find the place where he belonged.

“There’s tragedy (in his story), but there’s also redemption,” she said. “There was a place for him. … He had to go through an awful lot of hell to get there, but he found a place where he could be the best possible representative of making things happen that were positive for gay people.”

“His music was his ministry,” she added.

Said Jason Rush, “He was a nice dude, and a real Southern gentleman, still, to boot. Much more refined than my brother and I will ever be. … He did live a good life.”

He is survived by his partner, two sons, grandchildren and a host of loyal friends.