Posted by
Playful Walrus on Wednesday, March 16, 2011 4:26:28 PM
News outlets, apparently bored with covering catastrophes and civil wars, have breathlessly covered a church's
internal congregational issue. I'm not going to defend every teaching or practice of the Crystal Cathedral, but I did want to address this topic.
Here's the story by Deepa Bharath in the
Orange County Register.
Choir members at the financially troubled Crystal Cathedral say they are upset by a covenant they have been asked to sign that places a strong emphasis on them being heterosexual and Christian.
They are free to leave. Churches have every right to set standards and requirements for those in its ministry, and the choir is part of the ministry.
The "Crystal Cathedral Worship Choir and Worship Team Covenant," recently handed out to members, states that members should commit to being Christians by following the Bible in every way.
This is commendable for a church that claims to be Christian- that claims the Bible as its authority. But here's the question… "should" or what?
Long-time church members say this is the first time they have seen the cathedral take a firm stand against homosexuality and are disturbed by it.
Yes, I would be too – what took so long?
The covenant states: "I understand that in an era where images of family relationship and personal sexuality are often confused, Crystal Cathedral Ministries believes that it is important to teach and model the biblical view. I understand that Crystal Cathedral Ministries teaches that sexual intimacy is intended by God to only be within the bonds of marriage, between one man and one woman."
Notice, no fuss is being made about how this also takes "a firm stand" against any form of adultery (which would include threesomes, swinging, swapping, etc.) or fornication in general. It also precludes support for polygamy.
Ann Moore Waltz, a long-time church member and the Cathedral's first soloist to stand and sing on top the snack shack in Robert H. Schuller community church at the Orange drive-in said, she does not agree with the statement in the covenant.
The church has a governing structure. It doesn't matter how long she's been there.
"If you are a Christian group and people come to you, you should be a good servant, love them and shine the light of Jesus on them – regardless of who they are."
How does this conflict with that?
The contract also states: "I will be committed to sharing my complaints and issues only with the people involved...I will not discuss any unresolved issues with anyone other than the person(s) involved along with the Minister of Worship."
Funny, the headlines don't refer to this anti-gossip clause. Most people engage in gossip than homosexual behavior.
John Charles, a spokesman for the cathedral, said this does not mean gays are banned from the choir.
"This contract is to educate choir members about what our church believes in," he said.
He's exactly right. Go read that wording again. It is about what the church
teaches. It doesn't say that homosexual people are banned. But all that matters to some people is that someone's sexual activities be applauded, and when the church makes it clear it won't do that, they throw a fit. And the media covers it.
"I have already told them I won't sign it," said the choir member, who asked not to be identified. "We have had gays in the choir before. I'm not gay. But I don't believe in what they're saying."
You don't believe what – the Bible? There are other places for people who don't. Lots of them - other churches, other places of worship, clubs, universities, news rooms, so on and so forth.
The choir member says she doesn't agree with the statement that choir members should be "Christian" either.
Hello! It is supposed to be a Christian ministry.
Don Neuen, the cathedral's beloved, long-time choir director, left the church last year because he disagreed with Gretchen Schuller Penner's view that choir members should be "vetted" to make sure they are good Christians. Penner is a producer for the cathedral's "Hour of Power" program, broadcast to audiences worldwide.
Some of the very same people complaining about this latest move would be the first people to derisively shout from the rooftops if any of these people in the ministry were caught in a moral failing. Places like this church are darned if they do, darned if they don't.
Larry LaBonte, a church member for more than three decades, said choir members are not happy to sing Gospel and praise music, which Coleman announced would be the new way at their church as opposed to the classical style.
I believe that the songs should all be ones about God, what God has done, what God will do, and what God expects from us; I'm good with music of just about any type that falls into that category. But the church is not a democracy.
What's really going on here is an attempt to change church positions on sexuality. For all of the talk in the marriage neutering debate about "churches can still have their teachings", we can see with this that the truth is there are powerful groups who will do everything they can to prevent that very promise from being a reality.
There are churches organized specifically to accommodate and celebrate those who are unrepentantly engaging in homosexual behavior. They often have “metropolitan” in their name. Other churches also celebrate sex outside of holy matrimony. We have freedom of religion; go join one of those churches if you don’t like a church that teaches what the Bible teaches – that sex is for holy matrimony.