Pastoral Leadership

Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner

323.874.2104 Ext. 314
revhannah@hollywoodumc.org

Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner is the Senior Pastor of Hollywood United Methodist Church, with campuses located in Los Angeles, California at Hollywood and Toluca Lake. She is a proudly and publicly Queer clergywoman in The United Methodist Church. She was ordained an Elder in 2012 by Bishop Peggy Johnson in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, and currently serves as part of their Delegation to Jurisdictional/General Conference, and coordinates communications for the Queer Delegate Caucus. She has served churches in both rural and urban settings, and served the global church as staff with the General Board of Discipleship. A highly sought after speaker and teacher, her work has focused on anti-racism, solidarity with the unhoused, immigration advocacy, leadership development, and mentoring young leaders. She has been respected throughout her twenty years in professional ministry as a prophetic voice within these areas, both inside of the United Methodist Church and beyond it.

An enthusiastic communicator, she received a BS in Psychology/Gender Studies from Furman University, and her Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. Recognized as a leader from the beginning of her career, she was a Lewis Fellow in the early years of her ministry, as well as the Young Adult Representative from the United Methodist denomination to Churches Uniting in Christ. She has been a keynote speaker for United Women in Faith’s Global Assembly, has done anti-racism writing and teaching for the General Commission on Religion and Race and the General Board of Global Missions, and has spoken on solidarity as a panelist at the World Methodist Conference. She has a relentless passion for finding ways to tell stories and help new voices be heard, and has utilized filmmaking, podcasting, and writing to amplify stories that often are overlooked.

She is known best for the way she puts her words into action in the physical embodiment of solidarity, holding vigil at the Waller County Jail after Sandra Bland’s death, and again outside the Tornillo detention camp where immigrant children were imprisoned at the border. She is viewed as a resilient leader and an expert in navigating high risk situations, after facing the risk of her own life in order to help compel the attention of the church and the nation to those injustices. In 2016, she became an Honorary Member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., alongside Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland.  Also, in 2016, Abingdon published her first book, The Shout: Finding the Prophetic Voice in Unexpected Places — a Bible Study curriculum arising out of the community she had built as the Curator of The Shout – a spoken-word poetry focused artivism movement seeking to nurture a community of multi-ethnic, multi-generational, justice-seeking, solidarity-building people in Houston, Texas. In 2018, HBO released the documentary, “Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland” which included interviews with Hannah and featured her footage extensively.

While she comes from a large family that she cherishes, she is also very committed to the small circle of younger “siblings” she has committed to as chosen family – and of course to her constant companion, her sweet pup, Esperanza.

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