An Open Letter to Pastor Jeff Sangl

Editor’s note: In a particularly shocking story, an Indiana church has been shown on YouTube celebrating a young child singing a homophobic song. In our opinion, this is an abusive and terribly destructive thing to do to a young child, as one friend put it in a Facebook conversation “using small children as ventriloquists’ dolls for the hatred of the preacher.” We have embedded the YouTube video below. Whatever happened to teaching children about the love of Jesus in songs like “Jesus loves me?” I e-mailed the following letter to Pastor Jeff Sangl of Apostolic Truth Tabernacle last evening at the e-mail address found on his church’s web-site. The church’s spokesperson claims that Pastor Sangl received death threats in response to the video and has gone into hiding. We at lgbt-BJU.org unequivocally denounce any call to violence, but we ask, humbly and sincerely, for a change in the rhetoric of homophobia being preached from the pulpit of America’s churches today. Will you join me in politely and respectfully asking for this change? — Jeffrey Hoffman

People of LGBT-BJU — Who We Are (Rachel Oblak)

Rachel Oblak (BJU, 2005-2008, Creative Writing major)

Rachel Oblak

It’s a strange experience, trying to figure out how to tell a story that you yourself don’t even fully understand yet. Where to begin? There’s not much to tell about my childhood with regard to my sexual orientation. I grew up as most fundamentalist children do, believing that homosexuality was a very bad sin. I was taught it was a choice that revealed the deepest depravity of that soul. I never met a gay person, but there was one boy from our church who came out as gay long after he left. Since rumors had it that he crushed on girls back when I knew him, I assumed that was proof that he had chosen to be gay.

I suppose the clues that I was bisexual were all around me; I just didn’t recognize them. I thought my intense longing to be around certain girls was just a desire for friendship—not the same thing as the crushes I had on boys. I thought the butterflies I got when I saw a pretty girl were normal—that everyone could recognize beauty in the same sex (or at least that all girls could). I convinced myself that I was merely able to see those girls as a guy might see them. The achy feeling I got around them, I thought, was an indication that I knew they were more beautiful than I, more to a guy’s liking than I, and more what I should be like. I strove to force my body to conform to the look of the girls that gave me that feeling. I distracted myself from my crushes by convincing myself that I needed to look like them. It turned the feelings of attraction into feelings of disgust with myself and hatred to those who “revealed my shortcomings.”

Scriptural Views – Of Electric Fences and Burning Crosses

Photograph © Sally Davies 2007 “Jesus Saves”

We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Spread the tidings all around: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Bear the news to every land, climb the mountains, cross the waves;
Onward! ’tis our Lord’s command; Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Waft it on the rolling tide: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Tell to sinners far and wide: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Sing, you islands of the sea; echo back, you ocean caves;
Earth shall keep her jubilee: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Sing above the battle strife: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
By His death and endless life Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Shout it brightly through the gloom, when the heart for mercy craves;
Sing in triumph o’er the tomb: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

Give the winds a mighty voice: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Let the nations now rejoice: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
Shout salvation full and free; highest hills and deepest caves;
This our song of victory: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!
— Priscilla J. Owens (1829-1907)

This bit of doggerel, written for the Sunday School of Baltimore’s Union Square Methodist Church way back in 1882, is familiar to just about anyone who has grown up in the Independent Fundamental Baptist or Bible Church movement where it is often sung as a hymn. Its message is simple and comforting; in fact, it is supposed to be the entire point of the IFB message: Jesus saves! I’ll confess, it’s not my favorite thing to sing in church anymore, though I agree, profoundly so, with the crux of this simple message: Jesus saves!

Jeffrey Hoffman – “Why I became an activist”

Editors’ note: Apologies for the few weeks’ unannounced hiatus we had to take with this blog. Several of us are academics caught up in end-of-academic-year activities and deadlines. I myself have been caught up in end-of-season activities in the church where I am organist and choirmaster, and a sudden turn of events involving my young friend Christopher Peterman temporarily drew my attention from this blog and our organization. I volunteered to help him tell his story to the press. The following post was only half-written when that sudden flurry of activity occurred, and I must acknowledge inspiration from Rachel Patrick’s similarly-titled post. – Jeffrey Hoffman

Jeffrey Hoffman

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire;
– Jude 1: 21-23a

If you had asked me a year ago whether I would ever see myself in the role of executive director of a fledgling gay rights organization, I would have laughed at you. When I finally regained my composure, I probably would have said something like “being gay is a very small part of my identity and somewhere down the list near the fact that I am a movie buff and an avid reader of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings. I’m neither proud of it nor ashamed of it. It just is. I’m a Christian, an Anglican, a classical musician, a composer, a writer… so many other labels I would use to define myself before I would identify myself as being gay.” Don’t get me wrong. I came out of the closet many years ago, though for years I merely acknowledged my sexuality without actually embracing it. I have been a spectator at Pride Marches in the past, but never someone who was interested in marching. So why do I find myself preparing to lead a group of LGBTQQI and Affirming former students and alumni of Bob Jones University down Fifth Avenue next month in our first-ever participation in New York City’s Pride March?

Letter to the Editor – Parents and Other Problems

A Frustrated Lesbian

Ed. Note: A reader recently wrote in with the following letter. A common theme among internal discussions within our Facebook groups and other organizational activities is the relationship issues that arise with parents and siblings for LGBT fundamentalists and former fundamentalists. We asked if we could share her letter.

Dear lgbt-BJU.org

Sometimes being out of the IFB feels a bit like recovering from a serious addiction. My “addictions” are guilt, shame, worry, perfectionism, and the like. These surface in all areas of my life, even though I know it’s outdated.

This is NOT playing!

I read this story with absolute horror, and yet, I know this is not an isolated incident. This is not something that has happened just once, or twice. I have personally heard many stories of children who were sexually assaulted and counseled never to tell by their Independent Fundamentalist families. Sadly, some of them are members of our lgbt-BJU community. Thank you for shining the light of truth on this situation. Let us all pray for an end to this, and healing for the victims.

And to all the victims of childhood sexual abuse, please know that you are not alone. If you would like to speak with someone in confidence, particularly if you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or just questioning your sexuality, lgbt-BJU.org is a safe place for you. Please e-mail us at lgbt-BJU.org. We keep all correspondence confidential.

Jeffrey Hoffman
provisional Executive Director
lgbt-BJU.org

chucklestravels

Imagine three young boys – two extended family members and a friend of theirs – staying on a farm for a weekend.  The prospects are endless!  It brings back some fond memories of my own time growing up (even some of them spent with my brother).  Boys growing up can create and take on adventures of epic proportions.  As I write this, I recall how a friend and I used to pretend we were some sort of government operatives dropped in the jungle.  A tree platform served as our home base and the creek was the territory we explored.  Summers just weren’t long enough to contain everything we did.

Now, imagine the youngest one of the three boys, comes down from the bedroom area and sits silently on the sofa next to his adult relative.  The boy, after some open-ended questions, lets on that there had been talk of “raping”…

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People of LGBT-BJU — Who We Are (Joy Paul Schwenke)

Ed. note: As anyone who has spent any time within the network of Independent Fundamental Baptist/Bible (IFB) churches and colleges knows, Bob Jones University is the largest of an interlocking network of institutions and has for many years played a dominant role within that network through its Gospel Fellowship Association (GFA) mission subsidiary, SoundForth music, BJU Press, The World Congress of Fundamentalists and other, smaller colleges and universities where BJU graduates are faculty and administrators. It is our desire to assist LGBT people from within this larger network to share their stories, as well. If you or someone you know needs support within the larger network of Independent Fundamentalist organizations, we are here to assist you. Today, we introduce a man who is an alumnus of a now-defunct Christian college within the Fundamentalist network.

Joy Paul Schwenke (B.A., Pillsbury Baptist Bible College, 1971; M. Div., Central Baptist Theological Seminary, 1975)

Joy Paul Schwenke

My story is not so much a coming out story as much as a forced out story. The main struggle was what I did when I was outed and finally accepted the fact that I was gay and a Christian. The two realities most certainly did not fit together in my mind when I reached puberty at about twelve or when I was outed at forty-four. They did not fit together for the next several years, and even now I struggle emotionally with reconciling those two facets of my identity.

I was raised in a Christian home. My father was my pastor; my mother was my Sunday school teacher and Bible Club leader during my early years. I trusted Christ as my Savior at an early age. One of my fondest memories as a teenager was attending youth rallies and Bible camps every time they were held. I also remember making many sincere decisions to rededicate my life during those special times and even during regular services. Specifically, I can clearly recall the Sunday evening service my senior year when I surrendered my life to serve Christ in full time service as a pastor. I attended Pillsbury Baptist Bible College (now defunct) and Central Baptist Theological Seminary in preparation for full time service to the Lord. I have to look back at my journey over those spiritual mountains and ask myself, “Was I just playing, or was it my honest intention to follow the Lord fully?” My answer could only be, “Absolutely, I was sincere; I was not playing games or pretending.”

People of LGBT-BJU — Who We Are (Jonathan Nichols) Part Two

Ed. note: On Friday, we introduced readers to nineteen-year-old Jonathan Nichols who was expelled from his Christian high school just a few weeks before graduation one year ago simply because he confided to a friend that he thought he might be gay. Today, we present the conclusion of Jonathan’s astonishing story.

Jonathan Nichols (formerly BJU class of 2015), Part Two

Jonathan Nichols

I wanted so much to be able to be honest with someone that I was actually in contact with. I hinted to my closest friend that my friendship with Ryan wasn’t just a friendship. She was, naturally for someone in our atmosphere, worried for me. So, despite her promises that she would trust me to do what I felt was right, she went to my youth pastor for help. He promptly told the senior pastor, who is superintendent of the school. The next day, I was called into Pastor Dennis’s office for questioning. Pastor Overton was also in the room, sitting to my left with a legal pad and a pen, taking notes. Dennis tried to start off nice enough, but it was obvious that they found out. I decided that a clean breast of the issue would be best, and went into my research on the matter, hoping at least to get an opposing rebuttal and at best to convince them. How naive I was. . . I don’t remember much of that conversation, but one thing rings vividly in my mind. I mentioned that the Greek word malakoi in I Cor. 6:9 was never elsewhere, in the whole of Greek literary writings, translated “effeminate.” It carried a whole different connotation. His response? He turned around, pulled his Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance off the shelf, looked up the word, and pointed to the definition. He never for one second imagined that Dr. James Strong was not infallible and that his concordance was not holy writ. In those several hours, my pastor beat me down. Hard. I was totally conquered, save in one regard. I would not tell him who I was “dating.” I did not see that it was my place to get someone else, especially someone I loved, in trouble like this. Dennis found out anyways. He had me break up with Ryan. I cried all night.

People of LGBT-BJU — Who We Are (Jonathan Nichols) Part One

Ed. note: Bob Jones University’s reach extends far beyond the two hundred acre campus it inhabits in Greenville, South Carolina. Throughout the United States and around the world, Bob Jones University’s influence is strongly felt, particularly within the independent fundamental baptist (IFB) movement, which includes many Christian schools that funnel students to BJU and other IFB-affiliated colleges.  Today, we present the first part of a tale by a courageous young man who came to us shortly after his whole world fell apart while attending summer music camp at Bob Jones University. Expelled from his Christian high school just a few weeks before graduation because he confided to a friend that he thought he might be gay, meet

Jonathan Nichols (formerly BJU class of 2015), Part One

Jonathan Nichols

My story is going to be slightly different than the others featured on this blog because I actually never attended Bob Jones University. However, before you stop reading, you should know that I would be finishing up my freshman year at BJU had I not been outed in high school, expelled, and ultimately forced to leave home. My parents are both BJU alumni, and the principal of my Christian school in Ohio was a BJU-pusher. In fact, while I was growing up, BJU was presented as the only viable choice of college by my family and a few teachers. Because of that, my story isn’t too different from the others here, I just went through the same things earlier, before I actually went to college.

Methinks Thou Dost Protest Too Much

Jeffrey Hoffman

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”— Hamlet, Act III, Scene 2; William Shakespeare

Whenever I hear a fundamentalist preacher hint affirmation of the preposterous falsehood that homosexuality is a “life-dominating sin” that everyone in the world is susceptible to “falling into,” whenever I hear a pseudo-therapist suggest that to be homosexual is to be “barbarian” and requires “education and training,” whenever I read a conflicted young person’s claim that God “called me out of homosexuality,” whenever another conservative politician gets caught with his pants down in an airport men’s room, and whenever I hear an “ex-gay evangelist” making beaucoups bucks telling gullible crowds how to “pray the gay away,” I am reminded of the now clichéd quote from Shakespeare’s tragic masterpiece referenced above. The homophobe doth protest too much.