I recently attended a wedding here as the date of the best man. Before the bride and groom even entered the sanctuary for the procession, the minister decided to give a sermon about marriage. Unfortunately, the minister's words were not a celebration of the love and commitment of the bride and groom, but instead a rant against same-sex marriage. The pastor used the occasion of this couple's wedding to rail against gay people in a way that was highly inappropriate and incredibly offensive. Considering that the couple's best man as well as others in their wedding party in addition multiple of their guests are gay or lesbian, this homophobic speech was even more reprehensible.
I understand that many churches do not support marriage equality and I am not writing this review because this minister has a different belief than I do; I am writing this review because his message was unwelcoming and was deeply harmful to me and to others around me. If you are going to call yourself a Christian church, you must recognize the inherent dignity of every person, including people who are LGBT, and treat everyone with respect regardless of whether or not you agree with them. There is never an appropriate time for a hate-driven message that demeans others, least of all at a wedding that should be a celebration of love.
Sadly, I have no reason to believe that this was an isolated incident. This church's own statement of belief compares homosexuality with pedophilia. Clearly, this church's leadership lacks even the most basic understanding of what it means to be a gay person, and by the same measure, lacks any grace towards queer people. Please, if you know or care about anyone who is LGBT, find another church to attend - there are many out there who are more grace-filled and who are more concerned with the Gospel and God's love than with demeaning gay people and taking cheap shots in the culture wars. read more