Leading the Black Church Forward: Covenant Baptist Church

Covenant Baptist Church is located in Ward 8, one of Washington, DCs most poverty-stricken areas. Despite this, Covenant Baptist has been a beacon of love and support because of their community focus. Husband and wife pastoral team Rev. Dennis and Christine Wiley preaches a ministry of social justice, and tells the story of how theyve worked to create an inclusive and welcoming place for all to worship. This powerful and inspirational video can be screened and discussed in a small or large group.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• HRC
• Human Rights Campaign
• Lesbian
• Gay
• Bisexual
• Transgender
• LGBT
• GLBT
• HBCU

[hotcheetos06]

@buddhasizedguy Right. I agree, this is a common tactic by bibliolators (a term that I have heard used to describe those that end up worshipping the Bible and not God). I've attended Covenant Baptist where the pastors lead. In your first post, you actually nail it. The pastors sanction same sex marriage, therefore same sex sexual activity within the confines of marriage are "permitted". I have my own doubts on the use of marriage as a means in which to legitimate sex in the first place. But...

[DawsonDenise]

I love these two people and I thank God for their "Love" for all people.

[buddhasizedguy]

cont. To me, the idea of a "sin" is so antiquated - it's old, repressive programming. Fornication between consenting adults inside or outside the artificial, man-made construct of marriage is no more sinful than what animals do instinctively - it's a natural, healthy part of a relationship that doesn't require the "sanctity" of a church- or state-imposed doctrine (aka marriage).

[buddhasizedguy]

@hotcheetos06 I see your point, and I rewatched that bit to see if I could glean your interpretation, and it's not quite clear to me. I think it would require a followup question of the pastor what exactly he means when he distinguishes between "homosexual orientation" and "homosexual acts and conduct" - he claims we need to separate the two, which is a common tactic used by Christians (hate the sin, not the sinner).

[hotcheetos06]

@buddhasizedguy

I took that to mean pre-marital sex in general, not sodomy in particular. I would think that the pastors argue for sameness across gay or hetero individuals. Fornication in this sense would be the sinful act, whether performed by a gay or straight couple. And since these pastors do perform same sex unions (and these unions are now legal in DC, which really wouldnt matter but is an important note), the playing field is equal

[wlotus2007]

I interpret their statement about sinful homosexual and heterosexual acts to be about things like taking advantage of someone else, having unsafe sex, rape, cheating on your partner, and so on. I don't believe they mean same-sex-loving people need to not have sex.

[Estrodile]

Yeah, that did make me a bit uncomfortable as well. They are making a safe place for religious GLBT people to worship which is important.

My, now former, boss fought like hell to make the upper management understand my substantial contribution to the company & how they could keep me by making simple accommodations.

They are not exactly the same but they both have to do with creating making our frequented places safe ones.

[WerewolfOfTheWater]

Well I suppose they could also be referring to things like sexual abuse, rape, prostitution, etc

[tranxendentalist]

exactly.

[buddhasizedguy]

I was with the Rev. until 4:45 where he makes the wrong-minded claim that "Homosexuality is not a sin, although there are sinful homosexual acts" to which his wife adds "as well as heterosexual acts." I would assume that they are referring to sodomy, which is a prominent component of gay sex, so that makes me wonder why they would sanction gay marriage - do they expect that gay people will abstain from sex in order to live within the confines of the Bible or do they propose something else?