Pastor Jeff Sangl and his wife left
town without telling anyone after a clip of a 5-year-old boy singing
an anti-gay song at their church went viral.
The disturbing clip, allegedly filmed
at the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church in Greensburg, Indiana,
shows a young child singing: “I know the Bible's right, somebody's
wrong; Romans one, and twenty-seven; Ain't no homos gonna make it to
Heaven.”
The boy gets a standing ovation from
congregants and is urged to perform an encore. (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The church addressed the controversy
the video has created in a statement posted on its website.
“The Pastor and members of Apostolic
Truth Tabernacle do not condone, teach, or practice hate of any
person for any reason,” the statement reads. “We believe and
hope that every person can find true Bible salvation and the mercy
and grace of God in their lives. We are a strong advocate of the
family unit according to the teachings and precepts found in the Holy
Bible. We believe the Holy Bible is the Divinely-inspired Word of
God and we will continue to uphold and preach that which is found in
scripture.”
According
to TMZ.com, Sangl and other church members have allegedly
received death threats and the pastor and his wife left town for vacation
without telling anyone where they were headed.