Connect with us

Earlier this week Rebecca wrote a letter on Facebook to Pastor Jenkins about her experience at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. The letter has gone viral and has garnered a lot of attention on being black and gay in a black church.

How do you still preach the word of God without inserting your own opinions into the mix? I’m sure it is very difficult judging by the comments on Pastor Jenkins post. Read his letter and let’s discuss what can we do going forward.


Greetings. This is Pastor Jenkins’ letter in response to an open letter he received this week:

Thank you very much for your thoughtful response to my comments at Sunday service on May 22nd. I sincerely appreciate your feedback and honesty. It was never my intention to hurt you, your mother or anyone. I have the utmost respect for the painful journey you have made toward self-acceptance and creating the life in which you experience the greatest love.
Perhaps you are unaware of our church’s efforts to reach out to the LGBTQ community and serve our community at large. I have tried to be very sensitive in my word choices, and I am sorry that my words hurt you. I truly love and care for all people who experience same-sex attraction. In the past, you may have heard me speak that everyone is welcome at First Baptist Church of Glenarden, and I do mean everyone: heterosexual, and the entire LGBTQ community. God loves all His children, and so do I.
During my sermon this past Sunday, I attempted to say that there are many factors influencing the demise of families today. At different services I mentioned multiple factors, some of which you alluded to in your comments to me. I will seek to be more sensitive and less offensive in the future.
The mention of same-sex marriage was just one of many factors that I believe grieve God’s heart and compromise the family. As you may know, I uphold traditional Biblical truths that the sanctity of marriage is between one man and one woman.
As a Pastor, my responsibility is to be thought-provoking and foster conversation around issues of faith. If you would like to meet to further discuss this matter, I welcome the opportunity to dialogue and determine how I can be more sensitive and to cultivate a better understanding. We will continue to keep you and your family in our prayers.
In His Grace and Love,
Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr.


 

Who wrote the letter? It says “this is Pastor Jenkins” then says a letter ‘he’ received. Why not just say “A letter that I received. But here we are.

Pastor Jenkins was respectful and it doesn’t seem like he let it get him take away from his message. His message is that he believes homosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God. Which can be in fact argued. But what always get’s me is that they’re tons of scriptures in the bible of which we don’t pay attention to.

  1. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. Leviticus 19:19
  2. 2. All that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 9:10
  3. When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. Leviticus 15: 19-20
  4. No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the LORD. Deuteronomy 23:1
  5. You may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. Leviticus 25:44-46 – Alternate

So why are we in the LGBTQ community punished so hard in the black church? In my opinion. It is easy to judge us then judge the many sins some of these people see and commit every day. It’s easy to cast away a homosexual than to cast someone for eating certain animals.  This is why I’m not sure what to say when people ask me do I believe in God.

Thank you, Rebecca Daniel & Pastor Jenkins, for the discussion. I appreciate you both.

 

 

What do you think of Pastor Jenkins response?

Comments

comments

Entertainment

‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race’ Star Chi Chi DeVayne Passes Away at 34-Years-Old

mm

Published

on

Zavion Davenport, better known as RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Chi Chi DeVayne has died at the young age of 34, fellow alum Trinity K. Bonet confirmed on Instagram today.


Having been in the hospital for weeks due to pneumonia, DeVayne asked fans for prayers. Prior to that, she had been hospitalized for possible kidney failure.

The Drag Race contestant had been diagnosed with scleroderma, also called crest syndrome, back in 2018.

Fans and other contestants of the show had been sharing the DeVayne’s payment information to assist with the overwhelming cost of hospital bills. Shea Coulee and Priyanka had been especially involved in raising funds for their fellow alum.

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘Real Housewives of Potomac’ star Candiace Dillard Makes Fatphobic Comment Towards Blogger and Suggest That He “Drop Dead”

mm

Published

on

*deep negro spiritual sigh* There are very few things that truly anger me. Somehow, Candiace, a woman whose mouth seems to get her beat up often, has found one of those few buttons with her latest statement.

So, here I am, minding my fat ass business when I see this:

Rumor has it that she was talking about Kyle from The Black Socialites. It really doesn’t matter who she was talking about, but I guess we’ll never know because she didn’t have the courage to say a name. She did have the courage, however, to talk about her involvement with “plots” against other cast members. She was able to talk for two hours, under the glow of her pale husband’s flickering TV screen, about absolutely nothing of substance.

There are uprisings happening, a pandemic happening, but she’s worried about “plotting” in the DMV. We just passed the 6th anniversary of Michael Brown’s death. That’s in her backyard. That’s a pain that she should be deconstructing. Instead she chooses to attack a fat Black man who is working hard to bring her show press.

I’ll end with the victim’s words, and we can all go back to not knowing Candiace exists:

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

LGBTQ

Trump Administration Cuts Protections for Transgender Americans

Published

on

On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would be rolling back an Obama-era rule protecting transgender Americans from discrimination in health care. 

Under the Obama administration, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act expanded the definition of sex discrimination to include discrimination based on one’s gender identity. Under a revised version of the rule, the Department of Health and Human Services will enforce Section 1557 “by returning to the government’s interpretation of sex discrimination according to the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology” beginning in mid-August. In other words, doctors and insurance companies receiving funding from the Fed can legally refuse any patient needing transition-related medical care.

Of course, as quickly as the rule was finalized, many LGBTQ+ organizations including the ACLU,announced intentions to sue the Trump administration over this new language. “The Trump admin has issued a rule that will embolden health care discrimination against transgender people.. All while a global pandemic is occurring.” said the ACLU in a tweet. 

Forget a global pandemic, ACLU. Friday’s announcement came on the fourth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub tragedy, a mass shooting at a popular Florida gay nightclub that left 49 people and the shooter dead.

President Trump has made it clear how he feels about the nearly 1.4 million transgender people in this country, his fellow Americans – he doesn’t feel anything.

Comments

comments

Continue Reading

Trending