UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
The Journey By Gil Hanke
I grew up in Falls Church, Va., a city just outside of Washington, D.C. Dad worked for the Department of the Navy as an engineer, Mom taught piano and voice in our home and also served as the director of music at Dulin Methodist Church.
my brothers went to college. I enjoyed the retreats and the very close friends that came from several of the high schools in the area. I joined my MYF friends for workdays at Camp Highroad.
I have two amazing older brothers. They both excelled in school and in musical talent; my grades were not like theirs, but I did sing in the choir at school and church. My attempts to play a musical instrument (other than my tenor guitar) did not end well.
THE YEARBOOK STAFF GATHERS FOR A PHOTO WITH SPORTS EDITOR GIL AT THE CENTER OF ACTIVITY. GIL ALSO SANG IN THE CHOIR AND RAN ON THE CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM.
From left: Brothers Jay and Myron with Father Martin Hanke, and Gil.
I think Dad served on every committee within the church. I learned that sometimes those meetings did not go well; one gentleman would call Dad after most meetings to re-hash how the meeting had gone. Some of those re-hash meetings took longer than the actual meeting. My first introduction to Methodist Men, was washing dishes for their annual pancake supper as a fundraiser for MYF. My first introduction to missions, were slide shows nearly every year from one of the three Dulinsupported missionaries. The church also introduced me to Boy Scouts, which introduced me to camping. MYF became very important to me, particularly after 6
Our family had devotions each Sunday evening, reading from the Upper Room; that planted the seed for my devotions each morning from the Upper Room Disciplines.
Lynchburg College After high school I attended Lynchburg College (now the University of Lynchburg) in Virginia. I majored in speech, theater, and secondary education. When I returned home for Thanksgiving my freshman year, I learned that one of my MYF friends had been killed in Vietnam. All he ever wanted to be was a cook and had enlisted to get that training. I sang in the Lynchburg touring choir for two years, and in my junior year, I met Sher, my wife, for the last 48 years. The choir tours were a real learning experience because the make-up of the choir was very diverse, and the destination churches that were part of the tour were all Disciples of Christ churches.
