Today I received a postcard from a new church in my town called Ascent Christian Church. Their goal or motto is "becoming more like Jesus together". The card says they "accept people just as they are and value them for who they are." So of course, this enticed me to e-mail them and see if they are open and affirming to glbt folks. If they are, I'm going to check it out! If not, well I'm going to sue them for false advertising. I'll keep you updated!
If they aren't, take their name out of the post. A bad church shouldn't get advertising, even negative advertising.
That's awesome, I hope it isn't falsely advertising itself. On the back of my church's weekly program it says: "[My church name] United Methodist Church is a welcoming congregation. We welcome all people regardless of age, gender, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, or ability into the full life of this congregation." When I first started questioning I read that one time and I was like yep, my church is freaking awesome.
Well Pastor Mike responded. Any suggestions on what to say next? Maybe I should invite him over for coffee so we can talk about this. Becky, Thanks so much for your e-mail. I want you to know that as a pastor, if someone with a differing view on sexual orientation came to our church and was treated with anything less than love and acceptance, I would be very disappointed. I must tell you that we believe the Bible clearly teaches that sexual relations between any two people except between one man and one woman, and in the context of marriage, is a sin. That said, we believe that all are sinners (including me, the pastor) and that the Bible teaches that God loves us even though we are sinners, and that He demonstrated His love for us by giving His son Jesus to die for us. And yet, we believe that while God loves us in our sinful condition, He doesn’t want us to stay that way. When it comes to any sin, we strive to lovingly counsel the individual away from such behavior. I hope this helps answer your questions. Please feel free to contact me anytime if I can serve you further. God’s very best, Mike Gaffney
OK, this is what I said to Pastor Mike: Dear Mike, I appreciate your quick response although it wasn't what I had wanted to hear. I read your postcard and had hope for a minute that your church would be open to diverse sexual orientations based on what was said especially the "you shouldn't have to pretend to be something you are not." Isn't that what you want gay people to do? You say you would pray for their sin and "counsel them away from the sinful behavior." Pastor Mike did you know that every major psychological, psychiatric, pediatric, and medical organization in the United States is opposed to reparative therapy or conversion therapy for homosexuality? Trying to make a gay man straight just doesn't work. Some do claim that it does however most believe that they are simply oppressing their sexuality. In fact, just today I heard from a retired minister here in Prineville who has oppressed his sexuality all his life and has tried to commit suicide more than once because of it. The Bible is a wonderful book for Christians to draw on for guidance and love but we cannot ignore science. Most Christian churches have no idea what science has learned about homosexuality. Doing this has created friction amongst family members. Parents kick their children out of their homes and out of their lives. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender children are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Children are being bullied in schools and kids use the term "that's so gay" referring to something stupid as part of their language everyday. I believe we should be creating a world that is respectful of human diversity and that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. We should be promoting commitments and love instead of promiscuity yet most Christian churches oppose any kind of legal recognition for same-sex couples who are living together in a loving committed relationship. The Christian church is pushing people away instead of bringing people to know Jesus. My gay son has been in a committed relationship with somebody he loves for two years. He attended a gay affirming church in Portland before he moved to Louisiana. He was sad not to be welcomed and accepted for who he was at any church there. So he doesn't attend. Being gay is not a choice for most people, Pastor Mike. Loving somebody is not a "behavior". I would invite you to buy or rent a DVD called For the Bible Tells Me So. This is a DVD that looks at several Christian families who have had gay individuals in them. There is another good one called "Fish Can't Fly" about gay and lesbian individuals who have been through reparative or conversion therapy and how it affected their lives. Let me know if you watch either of them, I'd like to hear your opinion. Sincerely, Becky
Becky no matter what he answers, there is no way he can argue with an email like yours. Awesome!! Fingers crossed.
Good for you Becky! Someone had to say it! At least you have him food for thought. Maybe some of that will stick with him and he will think about it when he prepares his next sermon on diversity and being true to oneself.
Becky, you're so hardcore. ^_^ You should bust down the door holding a big wooden stake and drop some awesome one-liner. Okay, so it'd be a bit much...
