PastorTerry Scalzitti sent me a rather abrupt email saying he would set aside a thirty-minute appointment to discuss the matter of gay marriage. Never in any church I have attended has a pastor limited the time with which we could sit down and discuss something of such paramount importance. I almost felt that if I exceeded the thirty-minute stipulation I would be sent a bill for his time. The question of gay marriage is not some peripheral doctrinal issue, the kind of trivial, often foolish matters that over centuries have divided the church; instead, marriage between one man and one woman is a core teaching of scripture upon which the future of our children, our families, our church, and our country depend. I sensed at this time that such a meeting would be unproductive and declined to meet. It was clear to me that the leadership of the church (i.e., the lead pastor, assistant pastor, worship pastor, and youth pastor) had already determined that they were not going to broach the subject of gay marriage, especially from the pulpit or in writing. I pointedly had asked Terry, "Do you and does our church approve of gay marriage, Yes or No?" I received no response.
Why is the church afraid to take a position on the crucial subject of gay marriage? Our families in this country already are broken, almost beyond repair. We see the crisis in the inner cities where over 70 percent of black mothers are attempting to raise their children without the presence of a loving father. Crimes and murders are rampant. Clearly, and logically, the ideal situation, designed by God, is for any child, boy or girl, to have a loving father and mother, each parent playing a very special and unique role in the upbringing of the child. Obviously many single parents do a most commendable job in raising their children., but often under great hardship and duress. Few children in such an environment are as fortunate, and frankly lucky, as Dr. Ben Carson. A child is not supposed to have two daddies or two mommies. Which one is the dad, which one the mom? I can see in the imminent horizon the words "dad" and "mom" and "male" and "female" added to our list of taboo words, even in our public schools, because if a child in the classroom has two "dad's" he will be offended or hurt if references are made by the teacher to "dad" and "mom." If and when these words are added to our already extensive list of "forbidden" or politically incorrect words (the forbidding of gender reference already has, to an extent, occurred), we will be living in Aldous Huxley's "brave new world," where "parents," "birth," "dad" and "mom" are evil words. Considering his book was written in 1932, his book, like Orwell's 1984, was extremely visionary, foreseeing a world of test tube babies, the first such baby, Louis Brown, not to arrive until some forty years later.
Are Terry Scalzitti and the leadership at OVBC fearful of losing membership if they take a position on gay marriage? Is Terry's goal to become some kind of "mega-church" whose primary goal is to increase membership and revenues? Are the leaders of OVBC and other churches in this country fearful of eventual government reprisal and perhaps even loss of tax exemption if they hold firm to the teaching of scripture? Are they afraid young people, LGBT, and others, will no longer attend services? One of my major concerns is how our church is dealing with those young people who are part of the LGBT community, clubs of which exist on public high school and Christian college campuses across the country. I had specifically, in a lengthy and carefully thought out letter, asked Youth Pastor Tommy Moore how we as a church are handling this situation. It was a letter not of criticism but of genuine concern as to how to help our young people with sexual issues. I was incredulous, frankly astounded, that I received absolutely no reply from Tommy, who has preached some excellent sermons. Tommy is a very talented young Christian man who has worked with my grandson, as has Stephen Hand. My grandson is a drummer who has participated in the bands of many churches across the Grand Strand, including OVBC, and accompanied a group of Christians to Mexico on a mission trip. I feel this trip was a very worthwhile endeavor for all involved. I can't help believe that Tommy was instructed by the overall leadership of the church not to respond to my letter. This way nothing "in writing" pertaining to the church's views on gay marriage would exist. read more
