When His Son Came Out As Gay, This Pastor Delivered A Sermon Of Support : NPR

Contents:

• SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR ACCEPTS HIS GAY SON, CHANG HIS CHURCH.
• CHRISTIAN PASTOR STANDS UP AGAST CHURCH FOR HIS GAY SON
• BREAKING: JAM MERRT FENDS GAY SON’S PREACHG BY ATTACKG TMP SUPPORTERS
• MOM: OUTED PASTOR TOLD MY GAY SON HE WAS GOG TO HELL
• WHEN HIS SON CAME OUT AS GAY, THIS PASTOR DELIVERED A SERMON OF SUPPORT
• GEIA MEGACHURCH PASTOR REVEALS HE'S GAY
• EVANGELILS WH GAY CHILDREN CHALLENGE CHURCH
• PASTOR WHO MARRIED GAY SON SPEND--WH A TCH
• MAJOR EVANGELIL FIGURE OUT AS GAY
• FORMER SBC PRINT RIGNS SEMARY POST OVER CONTROVERSY INVOLVG GAY SON
• PASTOR LED SON’S GAY WEDDG, REVEALG FLT LE CHURCH

SOUTHERN BAPTIST PASTOR ACCEPTS HIS GAY SON, CHANG HIS CHURCH.

A Southern Baptist church California has broken wh the nomatn's stance on homosexualy and has cid to accept the LGBT muny whout judgment.

The church ma the change after s lead pastor announced that he no longer holds to the teachg that homosexualy is a Cortez, who leads New Heart Communy Church La Mirada, explaed his journey a letter to progrsive Christian blogger John Shore, founr of Unfundamentalist Christians, last month.

At the end of that journey, his son me out to him as Heart Communy Church Pastor Danny Cortez addrs his ngregatn on Febary 9, 2014 about why he changed his posn on homosexualy. | (Photo: Danny Cortez / YouTube Screenshot)"I recently beme gay affirmg after a 15-year journey of havg multiple people my ngregatn e out to me every year, " Cortez wrote. After readg many of Shore's wrgs and hearg ttimony om gay iends who felt margalized, Cortez said his "ey beme open to the jtice that the church has wrought" and Augt 2013, he said he "realized I no longer believed the tradnal teachgs regardg homosexualy.

CHRISTIAN PASTOR STANDS UP AGAST CHURCH FOR HIS GAY SON

"Soon after his shift beliefs, his 15-year-old son, Drew, revealed that he was gay and later me out publicly on believ that if wasn't for that 15-year journey and his change theology, "I may have stroyed my son through reparative therapy.

A sentence of life wh no chance to love, " he majory of his sermon that day foced on Romans 1, a passage which many Christians terpret as nmng homosexual behavr.

BREAKING: JAM MERRT FENDS GAY SON’S PREACHG BY ATTACKG TMP SUPPORTERS

In his letter to Shore, he also acknowledged that Ken Wilson's book, A Letter to My Congregatn, had been 's announcement, which the pastor acknowledged had trated church elrs by s abptns, left many the church displeased and the church cid to vote on whether to termate the pastor or accept his a perd of prayer, study and discernment, which also clud hearg om gay and straight teachers on both sis of the homosexualy bate, the church voted May not to dismiss Cortez and "stead to bee a Third Way church, " Cortez explaed.

MOM: OUTED PASTOR TOLD MY GAY SON HE WAS GOG TO HELL

At the very least, their cisn to rema the ngregatn is a cisn to stay wh a church that affirms same-sex behavrs and relatnships, " he also poted to progrsive Christian blogger Tony Jon, who disagre wh Mohler's views on homosexualy but has ma a siar pot to that of his nservative lleague last month.

"I've got a few iends to gracly and tenacly hang on to the ia that a third way n be found on this issue, a middle ground between affirmg gay marriage and nmng . In ls than 48 hours, WV reversed their cisn, " he said he believ that New Heart will ultimately be forced to leave the Southern Baptist Conventn, given that the "the Baptist Fah & Msage, the nomatn's nfsn of fah, stat that homosexualy is immoral and that marriage is 'the ung of one man and one woman venant mment for a lifetime. '""Furthermore, the Conventn's nstutn stat explicly that any ngregatn that endors homosexual behavr is 'not operatn wh the Conventn, ' and th exclud om s membership.

Anyway, I recently beme gay affirmg after a 15-year journey of havg multiple people my ngregatn e out to me every year. And was pecially the ttimony of my gay iends that helped me to see how they have been margalized that my ey beme open to the jtice that the church has wrought.

WHEN HIS SON CAME OUT AS GAY, THIS PASTOR DELIVERED A SERMON OF SUPPORT

In Augt of 2013, on a sunny day at the beach, I realized I no longer believed the tradnal teachgs regardg homosexualy.

I shared that the body of Christ is segregated every sunday between gay affirmg and non-gay affirmg and that there mt be uny and love. This is an hont man of God sharg his heartfelt, hard-won ttimony of how he me to unrstand, spe everythg he’d been tght to believe, that is no s to be gay.

A Christian Reformed Church pastor who has a gay son has spoken out agast the nomatn’s cisn to uphold s teachg agast same-sex relatnships and Styk, pastor of Communy Church Wyomg, Mich., was a legate to the Christian Reformed synod — a meetg of nomatnal lears — last week Grand Rapids, Mich.

GEIA MEGACHURCH PASTOR REVEALS HE'S GAY

At the synod, legat voted to stand by a cisn ma 2022, upgradg the nomal posn opposg same-sex relatnships om pastoral advice to “nfsnal stat, ” meang “is nsired part of the re beliefs of the [Christian Reformed Church] and that anyone holdg office the church is expected to uphold , ” acrdg to a Christian Reformed said his gay son, CNN producer Ryan Styk, has helped him bee a supporter of LGBTQ+ equaly. ”Pastor stands up for son after church exclus LGBTQ supporters Your Se ArticlInclivens Is an Asset to Major LGBT-Affirmg Church and Synagogu ›Same-Sex Weddg Likely to End Profsor's Job at Christian School ›Michigan Church Congregatn Ref to Remove LGBTQ+ Dean ›Chick fil A COO Dan Cathy Officially Com Out as Antigay ›WATCH: Ted Cz Says Marriage Equaly Rulg 'Will Not Stand' ›Iowa Republins Seek to End Marriage Equaly State ›Christian-Owned Bs Can Discrimate Agast LGBTQ+ People: Court ›. Pastor Kent Christmas (his actual name) of Regeneratn Nashville, whose upg plans clu healg a woman a “vegetative a, ” is also rabidly anti-gay.

Durg his sermon on Sunday, Christmas explaed how his prayers helped cure his own son’s homosexualy… which was necsary bee his son was apparently so gay, he had his own parkg spot at a lol gay nightclub. But when you’re raised by parents who scribe homosexualy as a “monic spir that’s e after our seed, ” we shouldn’t be surprised when a son do everythg he n to avoid the label. Jam Merrt fends his gay son’s preachg by lashg out at Southern Baptists who supported Donald Merrt tweeted, “Sodomy is a s.

EVANGELILS WH GAY CHILDREN CHALLENGE CHURCH

Twter er summarized the post perfectly: “Am I mistaken, or did Jam Merrt really jt say that you nnot cricize him promotg his gay sons preachg if you supported Tmp? " At the time, Danny told his ngregatn about the moment his son me out: "I was drivg my son Drew to school, and he turned over to me and he says, 'Dad, I'm gay. Stuck a small town wh even smaller mds long before the ia of gay marriage beg legalized even existed, he fds ways to vent both his sexual tratn and ternalized homophobia the most unlikely place: the arms of the pastor's elst son.

PASTOR WHO MARRIED GAY SON SPEND--WH A TCH

2, 2010— -- The pastor of a Geia megachurch wh thoands of followers, who was twice married and is a father of four, is speakg out about his recent cisn to publicly clare he is gay. I want to tell you that is not, " Jim Swilley said a vio shot the nonnomatnal megachuch Swilley found 25 years Swilley said g out was a cisn he's stggled wh sce childhood, he ma the announcement last month not for personal reasons -- he said he hop to save 52-year-old founr of Church the Now Conyers, Ga., said he's g out to help stem the recent ti of gay suicis Ameri and won't be swayed by some hateful msag that have been wrten about him onle.

""Hearg about the kids who are mtg suici, the reactn as a gay adult is, 'I wish I uld have jt talked to them for 15 mut or five mut and told them gets better, '" Savage said. "Officials, Celebri Jo 'It Gets Better'Three weeks later, a cy uncil meetg Fort Worth, Texas, gay cy uncilman Joel Burns was moved to share his own emotnal story about how close he me to killg himself at age 13.

Rob and Lda Robertson did what they believed was expected of them as good their 12-year-old son Ryan said he was gay, they told him they loved him, but he had to change. But stead of breakg wh evangelilism -- as many parents siar circumstanc have done -- the uple is takg a different approach, and they're spirg other Christians wh gay children to do the same.

MAJOR EVANGELIL FIGURE OUT AS GAY

The parents have only recently started fdg each other onle and through fah-oriented anizatns for gays and lbians such as the Gay Christian Network, The Reformatn Project and The Mar Lda Robertson, who blogs about her son at, said a private Facebook page she started last year for evangelil mothers of gays has more than 300 members. And the last few years, high-profile s of proment Christian parents embracg their gay children dite a change is occurrg beyond a few isolated Brownson, a New Ttament scholar at Wtern Theologil Semary, a Michigan school affiliated wh the Reformed Church Ameri, last year published the book "Bible, Genr, Sexualy, " advotg a re-examatn of what Scripture says about same-sex relatnships. In a statement urgg the church to accept gays and lbians, Wenger noted the pa his fay experienced when a church lear exmunited his son three s ago whout any discsn wh Wenger and his Rev.

The natnal nomatn this fall cut ti wh the the Uned Methodist Church, two misters wh gay sons drew natnal attentn for separately pridg at their children's same-sex weddgs spe a church prohibn agast dog so: The Rev. He won the se and kept his clergy crentials, beg a hero for gay marriage supporters wh and outsi the church.

"I thk at some pot moms and dads are gog to say to their pastors and church learship that you n't tell me that my child is not loved unndnally by God, " said San Shopland, the dghter of a Prbyterian missnary who, along wh her gay son, is active wh the Gay Christian Baldock, a Christian who advot for gay acceptance through her webse, said evangelil parents are speakg out more bee of the example set by their children. Gay and lbian Christians have creasgly been makg the argument they n be attracted to people of the same genr and rema fahful to God, whether that means stayg celibate or havg a mted same-sex relatnship. The annual nference of the Gay Christian Network has grown om 40 people a ago to an expected 1, 400 for the next event January.

FORMER SBC PRINT RIGNS SEMARY POST OVER CONTROVERSY INVOLVG GAY SON

Matthew V, thor of "God and the Gay Christian, " has attracted more than 810, 000 views on YouTube for a 2012 lecture he gave challengg the argument that Scripture bars same-sex relatnships. Baldock, The Mar Foundatn and the Gay Christian Network all say Christian parents have been reachg out to them for help notably higher numbers the last uple of years. Rsell Moore, addrsed the issue on his blog and at the marriage nference last month, tellg Christian parents they shouldn't shun their gay children.

Mohler has said he expects some evangelil church to eventually regnize same-sex relatnships, but not signifint Robertson said the mothers who ntact her through her Facebook page ually aren't ready to fully accept their gay sons or dghters. But then they're gog back to their church and speakg to their pastors, speakg to their elrs and speakg to their iends, sayg, 'We have a gay child. Earlier this year, Towne View lost s relatnship wh the Southern Baptist Conventn (SBC) and almost half s membership, along wh their du, as a rult of Conrad’s cisn 2019 to accept a gay uple and their three children as members of Towne View.

Would Reynolds, as an openly gay man, be weled to Towne View wh his partner, John McClanah, and their three children? He and McClanah were eager to raise their sons, then ag 7, 9 and 11, the Southern Baptist tradn that meant so much to them, but unrstood the difficulty their fay would face fdg a ngregatn given the SBC’s stnch posn agast homosexualy.

PASTOR LED SON’S GAY WEDDG, REVEALG FLT LE CHURCH

“When one of our church choos to affirm or endorse homosexual behavr through their fn of regenerate church membership, we have clearly e to a different unrstandg on what we believe is an sential doctre, ” JD Greear, SBC print and pastor of The Summ Church, said an email statement to CNN. Brockton Bat, a 24-year-old om Dallas, Geia, said he and his partner have also found sanctuary wh Towne View, after years of stgglg to fd his place the church as an openly gay man.