Colin Briggs, a 20-year-old Saint Thomas University student, says that he was told he could no longer volunteer at a church's children's ministry because he's gay.

Briggs told Global News on Monday that he had volunteered at the Crosspoint Wesleyan Church in Fredericton, Canada since 2011. For two years he also worked as a camp counselor.

Pastor Mark Brewer asked Briggs to stop his volunteer activities on September 18.

“They basically told me they would prefer that I wouldn't volunteer there because I was gay,” Brigg told Global News. “I went to sign up again this year to volunteer and I didn't think anything would be a big deal.”

Pastor Mark Brewer, who oversees the youth ministry, told The News Brunswick Beacon that he asked Briggs to stop volunteering to “avoid any potential uproar that may be caused if families were to find out an openly gay male was working in the children's ministry.”

“Having an openly gay male working in the children's ministry may cause some parents to feel uncomfortable,” Brewer added.

Brewer said during Sunday's services that the incident had led to “some unfortunate judgments” about the church. He suggested that “more complex issues” were at play that have not been reported.

“As usual, much of what you read on the Internet is not true,” Brewer said, insisting that the church does not discriminate. However, Brewer did not specifically state what the media had gotten wrong.