The Nashville “Megachurch” that embraced gay marriage two years ago has cratered

Two years ago TIME magazine highlighted an evangelical “megachurch” whose pastor had led the congregation to affirm gay marriage and to welcome LGBT persons as full members of the church (see the sermon announcement above from two years ago). The story made quite a splash at the time, even though many pointed out that the church wasn’t really a megachurch and could hardly be seen as a bellwether of things to come.

Yesterday, the website “Juicy Ecumenism” reported that the church has cratered over the last two years.... Read More

What complicates the matter is that a number of pastors who identify themselves as "evangelical" are seeking to reach Millenials and Generation Z, the generation after Millenials, which makes up 25% of the U.S. population, and who comprises a larger cohort than Millenials or Baby Boomers. The majority of these pastors are genuinely motivated by a desire to share the gospel with the unchurched/unreached in these age echelons. Millenials and Generation X , however, have quite different attitudes toward homosexuality and same sex marriage than do previous generations. They are far more accepting of homosexuality and same sex marriage and view the Bible-based views of older Christians as a form of bigotry. In their efforts to eliminate or reduce one barrier, these pastors raise another barrier. In so far as human sexuality and marriage is concerned, their teaching is no longer consistent with that of the Bible. They may be described as "evangelical" in their desire to reach the unchurched/unreached but not in their non-adherence to biblical teaching in the area of human sexuality and marriage.

Homosexuality and same sex marriage is proving to be one of the most divisive issues of the opening decades of the twenty-first century. The decisions that a church or denomination makes on these issues will impact its ability to reach the community. The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire's election of an openly gay man as its bishop, himself an advocate of same sex marriage, and the Episcopal Church's confirmation of the election and subsequent consecration of New Hampshire's bishop-elect would have a devastating impact upon that denomination. It would result in my former parish's reversion to mission status after having been one of the fastest growing Episcopal churches in the diocese. The parish might have weathered the storm if it had not weakened by a church split over the inability of the rector to lead a rapidly-growing church. The church itself was fairly conservative and biblically-orthodox. After the church's original core left, however, the rector sought to attract a more liberal and more Catholic segment of the population  But he was not able to reverse the membership losses arising from the split and the events of 2003.

The challenge facing Christians today is how they can be sensitive to the concerns of the younger generations while at the same time respecting the teaching of the Bible on human sexuality and the Bible.