TIME magazine's latest issue reports on
the increasing support for gay marriage in evangelical churches.
The marriage debate for many
evangelicals is about the Bible itself, TIME
notes: “Evangelical faith prizes the Bible's authority, and
that has meant a core commitment to biblical inerrancy – the belief
that the words of the Bible are without error.”
Many pastors also fear a backlash.
“As I engage in private conversations
with pastors across the country, many admit they have chosen to dig
in their heels on homosexuality not as a result of careful study or
reflection of the biblical text but out of fear,” said Michael
Kimpan, executive director of the Marin Foundation, a non-profit
working on bridging the gap between LGBT and faith communities.
TIME devotes much of its story to
Eastlake Community Church, an evangelical megachurch in Seattle with
six locations that hosted its first gay wedding last month.
Pastor Ryan Meeks, 36, told TIME: “I
refuse to go to a church where my friends who are gay are excluded
from Communion or a marriage covenant or the beauty of Christian
community. It is a move of integrity for me – the message of Jesus
was a message of wide inclusivity.”
“Every positive reforming movement in
church history is first labeled heresy,” Meeks explained.
“Evangelicalism is way behind on this. We have a debt to pay.”