Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 08:31:01 -0400 (EDT) From: Darrell128@aol.com Subject: NR 97062: Official Statement of Covenant URC Regarding Gay Protest NR #1997-062: Official Statement of Covenant United Reformed Church Regarding Gay Protest In a prepared statement, the council of Covenant United Reformed Church of Kalamazoo has issued a response to the June 1 protest against the church by local homosexuals. In the prepared statement, the church denied the charge of racism but affirms its opposition to homosexual practice. The complete text of the prepared statement is printed without any form of editorial comment. NR #1997-062: For Immediate Release Official Statement of Covenant United Reformed Church Regarding Gay Protest by Darrell Todd Maurina, Press Officer United Reformed News Service GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (June 2, 1997) URNS -- In a prepared statement, the council of Covenant United Reformed Church of Kalamazoo has issued a response to the June 1 protest against the church by local homosexuals. In the prepared statement, the church denied the charge of racism but affirms its opposition to homosexual practice. The complete text of the prepared statement is printed without any form of editorial comment. _____ The position of our church, Covenant United Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, has recently been called into question on the issues of homosexuality and racial relations. The position of our church on homosexuality is that taught by Scripture in Leviticus 18:22: "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination." (NASB) Romans 1:27 says, "in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error." God says in I Corinthians 6:19 that "your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have known from God, and that you are not your own." Having established God's law regarding sexual immorality, God provides an abundance of comfort for the Christian who repents. I Corinthians 6:9-10 states: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God." Repentance is both necessary and possible for any of these sins, including homosexuality, as shown by the very next verse: "And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God" (emphasis added). This is God speaking, not us or our church. God also tells us in Hebrews 10:30-31: "For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." We are not permitted to add to or take away from Scripture: "And if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book" (Rev. 22:19). The position of our church on racial relations is that taught by Scripture in a variety of passages. Genesis 1:27 says that "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Scripture does not say God created white men or black men in His image, but that all were created in His image. We are commanded in the Great Commission to "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you..." (Matt. 28:19-20). God's people are drawn "from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues" and will stand "before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes" (Rev. 7:9). It has been publicly stated by a person who has never attended our church that he "wasn't welcome at the church anymore because he was gay." This person has been invited numerous times to attend our church, and our church showed Christ's mercy by offering financial help to this person's female roommate who has attended our church on one occasion. It has also been publicly stated that one of our deacons called this person an "abomination." Leviticus 18:22, not our church, calls this person's lifestyle an abomination. We, in accord with Scripture, urged him to repent of homosexual practice and receive the forgiveness of Christ. God does hold up punishment for any sinful lifestyle. Our church has also been criticized for our treatment of a 3-year-old biracial daughter of a visitor. According to this girl's mother, "people gave very dirty looks, and [she] herself noticed it. She asked why people were looking at her bad. And she also asked why there were no other brown people here." If this has occurred, we are sorry. In the past we have had guest preachers and several visitors who were black, and we consider all fellow Christians to be brothers and sisters in the Lord. Those who are not Christians, regardless of race, we hope will become Christians. We are responding to these criticisms not because we want to argue but because our position has been misrepresented. If people want to object to what we believe after we have tried to help them, we are sorry that happened. We are much more sorry when people publicly say we believe things we do not believe. Done in Council, June 2, 1997 Cross-References to Related Articles: #1997-061: Kalamazoo Church Picketed by Local Homosexual Group Contact List: Jessica Miller and Shane Welch [Address or phone available upon media request] Rev. Janice Springer, Pastor, Phoenix Community Church 132 W. South St., Kalamazoo, MI 49007 O: (616) 381-3222 Rev. Phil Vos, Pastor, Covenant United Reformed Church 3724 Lovers Lane, Kalamazoo, MI 49001 H/O: (616) 324-5132 ---------------------------------------------------------- file: /pub/resources/text/reformed/archive97: nr97-062.txt .