Homosexual Pastors

[ByFaithAlone]

My church is deciding on staying with the PCUSA or breaking off as a result of the decision made by our presbytery to allow homosexual pastors to be ordained. We will be having a church informational meeting on Thursday night and tensions will get pretty high.

Regardless of where you stand please pray for my church.

In addition, I would like to pose the question, where do you stand and of course why?

As I know this is a very hot topic, I would request that we remain as civil as possible.

[otseng]

I pray for wisdom and grace for your church during this time.

What's my position? I'd be against having a pastor that is a homosexual. But, if someone else wants to have a pastor who is, I'm not going to rail against him for deciding that. Each person should live according to their own conscience and principles. Also, I'm personally not so hot on the idea of having a pastor that is divorced either. The pastor (and all the leaders) sets the tone of the church. Whatever they allow in their personal lives, it will affect the entire congregation.

Let me also add that though I would not be a member of a church with a homosexual pastor, I can see pros to having churches with a gay pastor. They would be better able to minister to the homosexual community. They can reach out where no "straight" church can ever effectively reach out to. So, more power to them, but for myself, I could not belong there.

[Adstar]

My church is deciding on staying with the PCUSA or breaking off as a result of the decision made by our presbytery to allow homosexual pastors to be ordained. We will be having a church informational meeting on Thursday night and tensions will get pretty high.

Regardless of where you stand please pray for my church.

In addition, I would like to pose the question, where do you stand and of course why?

As I know this is a very hot topic, I would request that we remain as civil as possible.

I will bot be praying for your church. But i will pray for you.

The Body of Christ is a body of believers who are lead by the Holy Spirit. If i where you i would seek that Body rather then seek yo make your foundation a "church".

We are coming into the end times and people and supposedly Christian organizations are falling away from the truth and creating doctrines of demons.

Get out of her and truly stand with God. Never compromise your conscience towards Jesus.

[Braveheart]

My church is deciding on staying with the PCUSA or breaking off as a result of the decision made by our presbytery to allow homosexual pastors to be ordained. We will be having a church informational meeting on Thursday night and tensions will get pretty high.

Regardless of where you stand please pray for my church.

In addition, I would like to pose the question, where do you stand and of course why?

As I know this is a very hot topic, I would request that we remain as civil as possible.

I would be completely against it for a couple of reasons. For one, I think the Bible makes it pretty clear as to what we should think of Gays.

Leviticus 20:13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
-King James Version of the bible

Also, the Catholic Church had a problem with homosexual priests about 20 years ago, and there were many cases of gay raping by the priests on the male servers.

[WinePusher]

If the candidate is both capable and competant and a strong disciple of Christ, then I would have no problem with him becoming a Pastor even if he were gay. This topic touches on the general issue of ordination and the priesthood, so let me express my entire views on this issue:

-If a priest or pastor chooses to live a life of celibacy, good for them. If a priest or pastor chooses not to live this life but to involve himself him sexual activity and marriage then he should be able to without any condemnation. For the church to do so would be for them to imply that celibate life is somehow more holy and superior to married life while it isn't.
-The priesthood is a ministry reserved only for men, as set forth by God himself in the Bible. In this respect, woman should not be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood.
-If a priest or pastor declares himself as gay, and still wishes to continue his role as a pastor, he should be able to if and only if his gay lifestyle is not showed off and publicly demonstrated to the congregation. It should be kept secret, as all people's sexual lives should be. For the church to deny ordination to gay men is not justified in the same way it is when denying ordination to women, and it implies that gays are somehow inferior and lower than the rest of us. They aren't, God love for them is equal to his love for the rest of humanity, and if they are capable leading the community of God in prayer and worship, then they should be allowed to do so.

[Braveheart]

If the candidate is both capable and competant and a strong disciple of Christ, then I would have no problem with him becoming a Pastor even if he were gay. This topic touches on the general issue of ordination and the priesthood, so let me express my entire views on this issue:

-If a priest or pastor chooses to live a life of celibacy, good for them. If a priest or pastor chooses not to live this life but to involve himself him sexual activity and marriage then he should be able to without any condemnation. For the church to do so would be for them to imply that celibate life is somehow more holy and superior to married life while it isn't.
-The priesthood is a ministry reserved only for men, as set forth by God himself in the Bible. In this respect, woman should not be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood.
-If a priest or pastor declares himself as gay, and still wishes to continue his role as a pastor, he should be able to if and only if his gay lifestyle is not showed off and publicly demonstrated to the congregation. It should be kept secret, as all people's sexual lives should be. For the church to deny ordination to gay men is not justified in the same way it is when denying ordination to women, and it implies that gays are somehow inferior and lower than the rest of us. They aren't, God love for them is equal to his love for the rest of humanity, and if they are capable leading the community of God in prayer and worship, then they should be allowed to do so.

You cannot be a "strong disciple in Christ" if you disobey such a heavy teaching. If God says Homos should be put to death, and yet we allow them into the priesthood, that is wrong.

[Darias]

If the candidate is both capable and competant and a strong disciple of Christ, then I would have no problem with him becoming a Pastor even if he were gay. This topic touches on the general issue of ordination and the priesthood, so let me express my entire views on this issue:

-If a priest or pastor chooses to live a life of celibacy, good for them. If a priest or pastor chooses not to live this life but to involve himself him sexual activity and marriage then he should be able to without any condemnation. For the church to do so would be for them to imply that celibate life is somehow more holy and superior to married life while it isn't.
-The priesthood is a ministry reserved only for men, as set forth by God himself in the Bible. In this respect, woman should not be allowed to be ordained to the priesthood.
-If a priest or pastor declares himself as gay, and still wishes to continue his role as a pastor, he should be able to if and only if his gay lifestyle is not showed off and publicly demonstrated to the congregation. It should be kept secret, as all people's sexual lives should be. For the church to deny ordination to gay men is not justified in the same way it is when denying ordination to women, and it implies that gays are somehow inferior and lower than the rest of us. They aren't, God love for them is equal to his love for the rest of humanity, and if they are capable leading the community of God in prayer and worship, then they should be allowed to do so.

You cannot be a "strong disciple in Christ" if you disobey such a heavy teaching. If God says Homos should be put to death, and yet we allow them into the priesthood, that is wrong.

Leviticus says a lot of things. It says not only to stone Homosexuals to death but also adulterers, and young children who sass their parents.

Even by Christian Standards, if one breaks the law at one point, he is guilty of breaking all of it, therefore everyone is no more worthy of heaven than anyone else....

So, in following the traditional fundamentalist views of the Bible, homosexuality (even if it is considered a sin) should not be anymore damnable than any other sin is.


The law in Leviticus demanded many things --- and yet Jesus transgressed the law many times by "healing" on the Sabbath and by preventing the Adulteress from being stoned...

Sorry but I can't picture Christ with a stone... much less a glock.


I personally view it as a Christian hypocrisy to allow Pastors to preach who may have a drinking problem, or a lying problem, or a "not trusting God problem," or whatever...

And yet they refuse to allow a homosexual into their ranks...

I find that quite arrogant and unChristlike by any standard.


I personally do not see homosexuality as a sin. And it certainly doesn't deserve death.


If anyone in this century thinks that homosexuals deserve capital punishment because they don't like boobs like everyone else... then I highly suggest they find a time machine and travel back to another era where such thinking is considered normal.

[WinePusher]

You cannot be a "strong disciple in Christ" if you disobey such a heavy teaching. If God says Homos should be put to death, and yet we allow them into the priesthood, that is wrong.

There is a reason why we do not abide by many, if not all the laws set forth in the Torah, Braveheart. The first is obvious, they are barbaric and cruel, they are things we would expect to find within the tenants of Sharia Law (the perfect embodiment of religious extremism and radicalism). The second takes a little more thought. As Christians, we believe that Christ is the fullfillment of the law, and because of Christ's passion, death and resurrection we are no longer bound to the law. Our duties and beliefs are to be modeled after the teachings and behavior of Jesus Christ, not the strict edicts established for a specific group of people in an era where this group of peoples were constantly being tempted and lead into sin.

And gay people, if they choose to do so, can be strong disciples of Christ. Being gay does not immediately put you out of good standing with God or the Church, God loves and accepts them as they are. Now, what would disqualify them from administering the sacraments would be if they taught what is contrary to Biblical and Ecclesial teaching. If they publicly encouraged and promoted the gay lifestyle, then they have no right to serve the church. Like I said, their lifestyle should be kept secret as should the personal lifestyles of all church ministers. Believe me, Braveheart, I have not reached these conclusions lightly. While I am a moderate religious conservative, I express disdain for extremism on both sides of the spectrum, including those who have no right to bear the title Christian and are nothing but heretics who preach a false Gospel, aka the pathetic duo John Shelby Spong and Karen Armstrong. On the opposite side, we have people like you who believe the Bible and our God endorses the death of gays or the exclusion of gays from the Church.

[lastcallhall]

Leviticus says a lot of things. It says not only to stone Homosexuals to death but also adulterers, and young children who sass their parents.

Even by Christian Standards, if one breaks the law at one point, he is guilty of breaking all of it, therefore everyone is no more worthy of heaven than anyone else....

So, in following the traditional fundamentalist views of the Bible, homosexuality (even if it is considered a sin) should not be anymore damnable than any other sin is.

I agree 100% that no sin is greater than any other sin. The homosexual lifestyle is a sin, being a homosexual is not.

The law in Leviticus demanded many things --- and yet Jesus transgressed the law many times by "healing" on the Sabbath and by preventing the Adulteress from being stoned...

Sorry but I can't picture Christ with a stone... much less a glock.

Jesus told people to turn from their sin. He clearly had issues with sin like at the temple but he always gives a chance at redemption. Because we live under grace we do not stone anyone to death anymore we try to get repentance and God will deal with the punishment.

I personally view it as a Christian hypocrisy to allow Pastors to preach who may have a drinking problem, or a lying problem, or a "not trusting God problem," or whatever...

This is where I agree and disagree. No pastor or any person with a position of authority in church should live in open sin. Anyone who lives in open sin can not have the anointing of the holy spirit and without that they can not be an affective preacher. God will not work through someone who openly mocks his values and laws. If someone is found to be a drunk or a womanizer they should be pulled from a position of authority and repent to be allowed to stay in the church.

Where I disagree is I believe the Bible in the NT clearly calls the homosexual lifestyle sin.

Romans 1:26-33 (New International Version)

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.


then in revelation it tells us the sexually immoral will be part of the lake of fire

Revelation 21:8 (New King James Version)
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[a] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.�


I think an openly practicing homosexual should not be a pastor of a church, he is living in open sin and can not have the blessing of God or the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

[EduChris]

My church is deciding on staying with the PCUSA or breaking off as a result of the decision made by our presbytery to allow homosexual pastors to be ordained. We will be having a church informational meeting on Thursday night and tensions will get pretty high.

Regardless of where you stand please pray for my church.

In addition, I would like to pose the question, where do you stand and of course why?

As I know this is a very hot topic, I would request that we remain as civil as possible.

I would affirm any pastor who acknowledges that homosexual practices are sinful and who can make a credible example as one who avoids sinful practices.