Parents of Gay Son: Why Daniel Means Much

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Sunday Morning Focus, July 10, 2011 (Jerry) My wife (Lisa) and I have been wrestling with the issue of homosexuality for a lot of years. 20+ years ago we learned that my oldest brother is gay. Seven years ago we learned our youngest son is gay. Lisa and I were both raised in churches that told us homosexuality was a sin. (Jerry) After years of bible study and talking with knowledgeable people, we now believe it is not a sin. Believing this alone just didn’t seem to be enough. I was wrestling with my level of support for my brother and son. We continued loving them as we always have but we weren’t doing anything to support the LGBT community. (Lisa) I had to work through the guilt of not recognizing that our son was gay and raising him in a church where he could not be himself, so that he could worship a God he had known since birth. It was after he told us he was gay that he started coming to College Park while going to UNCG and before moving to NY. He has joined a church much like College Park called Middle Collegiate where he is strong in his faith as well as himself. Our oldest son (Derek) and our daughter in law (Kathleen) helped us also with biblical passages that were contradictory and confusing; both of them have double masters in religious studies. God in his wonderful grace and mercy was using our children to help us heal and grow. We came to the conclusion for us that God loves everyone and God does not want us to tolerate injustice. (Jerry) One Sunday last Fall while studying Daniel 3 in Sunday school, it hit us that like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we needed to stand up for what we believe regarding gay rights. We finally realized that doing nothing was a bad thing. (Lisa) We have heard from Jerry’s brother over the years that he did not like the Methodist stance on homosexuals. So we looked up exactly what was in the doctrine and based on that, we decided we had to leave the Methodist church. We contacted our pastor and told him that we were leaving and asked him to please make sure the people he reported to and church members knew why we were leaving. (Jerry) So the book of Daniel has special meaning for Lisa and I, it inspired us to take a stand. We applaud College Park for the stand you took did 10 years ago supporting the LGBT community. We enjoy the diversity in this church and hope to be a part of its growth. We feel so blessed that God led us to here …. Thank you for letting us share.

College Park Baptist Church 1601 Walker Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27403 cpbcgbo@bellsouth.net 336.273.1779