Minister Who Helps LGBT Community Now Needs Our Help

I’m just going to cut to the chase. I could really use your help – and Believe Out Loud is lending their support in getting the message out there. For those who don’t know me, I’m the North Carolina minister who wrote “Clobbering ‘Biblical’ Gay Bashing,” who took a pledge to sign no more marriage certificates “Until ALL Can Wed” and who challenged other ministers to do the same, and gave the “Wickedly Beautiful Response to N.C.’s Latest Gay Bashing Minister” which raised tens of thousands of dollars for deserving LGBT advocacy groups.

Because of my willingness to speak up, I’ve been lucky enough to speak with folks like NPR, PBS, a national radio show in Canada, and I’ve even been interviewed for an upcoming documentary film on North Carolina’s Amendment One. Every chance I get, I try to advocate for LGBT rights and equality from a biblical perspective.

Unfortunately, the church where I serve, Vandalia Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, is in a very unstable financial position, in part, because of my active stance on LGBT issues. Here’s just one example. After a radio talk show interviewed about my commitment to sign no more marriage certificates “Until ALL Can Wed,” I received this note, “I am sure by now you have figured out that while it breaks my heart… I will not expose my children to the beliefs that you so readily express.”

While our church is also slowly gaining members, currently we are not doing so at a rate that will offset the loss of folks like the one who wrote the letter above. I will admit, that throughout this struggle I have suffered personal attacks over and over again, but I simply believe that the work is so important that I will continue to standup not only for the LGBT community but for anyone who is hurt or marginalized in our society.

Here’s my problem: if the church closes, I don’t know where I will end up or if I will be able to continue to serve in the role I currently do – one which I consider very important.

Believe Out Loud has been gracious enough to support me in this effort to provide financial security to the church where I serve. We are asking for your help. Even though it would be enough reason by itself, Vandalia Presbyterian Church is much more than a church whose minister is one of the strongest straight allies at a national level. They feed hundreds of underserved people every month. They hand out closets full of cloths to those in need – and that’s just the tiniest part of the difference they make in their community everyday.

Over the next 2 years, their budget will be short by about $50,000. Tell them “thank you,” for all of the work they are doing even in the face of losing members to the point of threatening to shutdown the church. Learn more about Vandalia Presbyterian Church at: http://www.worshiploveserve.org and donate here: http://www.worshiploveserve.org/contribute.html. Let’s make sure that churches like this are around for a long time to come.

Image Courtesy Vandalia Presbyterian Church