My first real participation with the tension that exists between the LGBTQ community and the church came when I was a freshman at Penn State University in the spring of 1996. As is the case on many campuses, there was a preacher who would stand outside one of the campus buildings on the green and preach sermons to students. Because he stood outside the Willard Building, he was ‘affectionately’ referred to as the 'Willard preacher.' One spring day, there was a large National Coming Out Day Rally scheduled to happen on campus on the steps of the theater that sat just opposite the Willard Building. When I walked out of my calculus class that day, I had no idea that I would be walking right into the middle of a real live demonstration of the tensions that existed between LGBTQ people and the church. On one set of steps stood a group of students and speakers calling on people to be true to who they were, to not be ashamed of their sexual orientation, and to be open and proud about it. On another set of steps, led by the Willard preacher, a group of students stood chanting, “Sodomy Is Perversion!”
I did not fully understand all that was going on in my heart that day, but I felt like I had to make a choice. One choice I could make was to join the chanters. Now, growing up I had been taught that God did not affirm homosexuality, but I did not feel good about the chanting and jeers that were happening, and I didn’t think I could do that. WWJD, right? I didn’t think this was it. A second choice I could make would be to join the gay pride group. It may seem like an easy choice, but at that time and at that point in my life, I felt that joining this group was a way of saying no to God. I was struggling in my faith, but was I ready to take this step away? I could not see a way that these two groups could peaceably co-exist, and I felt like my faith in Christ was on the line. In the end, I sat down with some friends in the gay pride group.
Fast forward to this past Saturday morning. This time the choice was easier for me. The Westboro Baptist Church had gathered with their signs in protest outside the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore., where the Gay Christian Network was holding their annual conference. As an act of solidarity, support, and protection, Christians from around the Portland area gathered to build a ‘wall of love’ so that conference attenders could enter with little interference from the hateful rhetoric of the Westboro Baptist group. Those in the wall sang our hearts out in praise to God and in support of our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. The choruses of “We are walking in the light of God!” and “Yes, Jesus loves me!” drowned out the hate speech coming from the megaphone wielding protesters behind us. We literally were singing in the rain, and for a bit, were even greeted by a rainbow arching above the whole event helping us all to remember God’s promise to us. At times, I was led to tears as I watched women and men walking down the path saying, “thank you”, holding hands, or in even in tears.
As I stood there singing in the rain, I couldn’t help but think back to that choice I had made as a college freshman nearly 20 years ago. Twenty years ago, I stepped away from the hateful speech thinking I was taking a step away from God and the faith in which I had been nurtured. But on Saturday, it was a clear act of faith and commitment to the God of compassion, mercy, justice and love to be a brick in that wall of love. It grieved me that in 20 years, we have not made enough progress as a church that there are those who will still spew this kind of hate in the name of Christ. Yet, I was hopeful not only in the ways my own heart had been transformed since then but also in the fact that we bricks in the wall far outnumbered the Westboro group.
And more bricks are being laid to build a strong foundation. Organizations have popped up everywhere asking the evangelical church to reconsider our practice and even challenging us to take a look at our theology when it comes to the care and support and acceptance of LGBTQ people, families, and allies. Groups like the Gay Christian Network, the Reformation Project, and in my own tradition, Mission Friends 4 Inclusion, give me hope that the rainbow we saw that day is a sign of a more just and inclusive future for God’s family. There is a lot of work to do, but let’s keep singing trusting in the God who walks with us and leads all the way.
Paul Corner lives with his wife and two kids in Seattle where he serves as the Senior Pastor of First Covenant Church, Seattle in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
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