Bishop Eddie Long, leader of New Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia, is among the mega-church leaders who Soulforce and gay families hope to engage in dialogue about spiritual acceptance.
In 2004, Long led a march through downtown Atlanta that drew 20,000 to support an agenda that included banning gays from marriage.
Soulforce, a national non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating anti-gay rhetoric in all religions, plans to take gay and straight families to share their stories with a new generation of church leaders, said Jeff Lutes, executive director of Soulforce and father of three with his partner of 10 years.
In 2007, anti-gay preachers Jerry Falwell and D.J. Kennedy died, while James Dobson and Pat Robertson, still heavy-hitters among evangelicals, are older now, Lutes said. As older leaders fade out, Lutes said there is a “new crop of emerging evangelical leaders” he hopes will be more open to listening to gay families.
In addition to Long, other nationally renowned mega-church leaders asked to participate in discussions are: Rev. Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston; Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter’s House in Dallas; Bishop Harry Jackson Jr. of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md.; Rev. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill.; and Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif.
New Birth Missionary Baptist Church did not return a call for comment by press time.
Rev. Dr. Ken Samuel, pastor of the 5,000-plus member Victory Church in Atlanta, planned to be a clergy leader on the national campaign, along with Rev. Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
In a Jan. 9 press release from Soulforce announcing its “An American Outing” initiative, Samuel was quoted saying, “Homophobia and heterosexism directly contradict the principles of equality and justice for all God's children, and I think that the younger generation of evangelicals are beginning more and more to see this contradiction.”
However, Samuel said Jan. 15 he has decided not to participate because he said he believes pastors have the right to believe as they wish.
Samuel's church has been picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church, which is led by Rev. Fred Phelps and known for its “God Hates Fags” mantra. Samuel said this week he didn’t feel he could violate another pastor’s space as was done to him by someone who disagreed with his beliefs.
“I cannot in good faith do something similar,” Samuel said. “The best way to combat bigotry is from the pulpit, to educate the members themselves. It’s rather intrusive for a pastor to come onto another pastor’s sacred space.”
If Phelps had asked Samuel to sit down and talk, Samuel acknowledged he would have said no.
And while he supports Soulforce’s mission, Samuel said he believes “intruding” on another’s sacred space can be counter-productive. “I respect Soulforce for raising the issue. My prayer is the members take this message back to their pastors and tell them how their messages are impacting them,” he said.
Paige Schilt, spokesperson for Soulforce, said the organization respects Samuel’s decision, but there are no planned protests at any of the churches.
“We are hoping for dialogue. We have no intention of protesting,” she said.
Soulforce’s similar Equality Ride, which took young people on bus tours across the country to talk to students and administrators at Christian colleges, was often met with police blocking the Soulforce riders from walking onto the campuses. When some riders ignored the police in acts of civil disobedience, they were arrested.
Lutes said, as with the Equality Rides, Soulforce has sent letters to the churches asking to meet with leaders and congregants.
“We’ve written 100 letters to these six churches and several dozen to Bishop Eddie Long’s church,” he said, adding the group hopes to meet with Long and his congregation June 1.
The “An American Outing” campaign is slated to take place at all the churches between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Lutes said Long, as well as Jackson of Maryland, are specifically targeted because they appear to represent the “more traditional old guard” of evangelical leaders with their vocal anti-gay stances.
“We want to meet family to family,” Lutes said.
Joining Soulforce in the campaign are the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the National Black Justice Coalition and COLAGE.
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
