08/10/2007
Church Denies Navy Vet a Funeral After Discovering He Was Gay
A church in Grand Prairie, Texas that volunteered to host a funeral for the brother of one of its members took back its offer after officials discovered that the deceased brother, who had been prayed for by the congregation when he was ill, was gay, the Dallas Morning News reports:
"Mr. Sinclair, 46, died Monday. He was a native of Fort Worth, a Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm helping rescuers find downed pilots, and a singer in the Turtle Creek Chorale, said his mother, Eva Bowers. He did not belong to a church. His brother, Lee, is an employee and member of High Point, a nondenominational mega-congregation led by the Rev. Gary Simons. Mr. Simons is the brother-in-law of Joel Osteen, nationally known pastor of Houston's Lakewood Church."
Church members had prayed for Sinclair after he was diagnosed with a heart condition six years ago and had even sent staff to minister to the family as soon as he had died.
Here was the problem however: "Both the family and church officials agree that the church volunteered to host a memorial service, feed 100 guests and create a multimedia presentation of photos from Mr. Sinclair's life. But the photos that the family selected alerted church officials that there might be a problem with the service, Mr. Simons said. 'Some of those photos had very strong homosexual images of kissing and hugging,' he said. 'My ministry associates were taken aback.' And then, he said, the family asked to have its own people officiate the service. 'We had no control over the format of the memorial,' Mr. Simons said."
The church declined without offering the family some sort of compromise.
And finally: "The issue was not so much that Mr. Sinclair was, from the church's perspective, an unrepentant sinner, he said. It's that it was clear from the photos that his friends and family wanted that part of his life to be a significant part of the service. The pastor said that he could imagine a similar situation involving a different sin. Perhaps a mother who is a member of the church loses a son who is a thief or murderer, Mr. Simons said. The church would surely volunteer to hold a service, he said. 'But I don't think the mother would submit photos of her son murdering someone,' he said. 'That's a red light going off.'"
What would Jesus do?
Church won't hold funeral for gay man [dallas morning news]
Posted 1:45 PM EST by Andy Towle in Discrimination, News, Religion, Texas | Permalink
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Thanks for posting this. I hope too that readers will vote in the online poll the Dallas Morning News is conducting regarding this story.
Thanks,
Matt in Dallas.
Posted by: Matt | Aug 10, 2007 1:53:38 PM
OK - so I'm guilty of some stereotypical judgment here, but that photo of "Rev. Gary Simons" exploits every characteristic of a big Mo himself. What straight man manicures his mustache and beard like that. These people - so called Christians - are so caught up in their egos that they completely miss what is supposed to be the premise of their religion - unconditional love. Let a higher power be the judge, not them. Just love with all your heart. (I'm sure the pictures were not sexual - it's amazing how fear comes out in those who fear those things in themselves most). Ugh! RIP Mr. Sinclair.
Posted by: kevin091962 | Aug 10, 2007 1:53:43 PM
So they think loving someone is the same as killing someone.
And would they also deny people if the people in the picture were eating crustaceans or wearing stretch jeans?
I hope the family sees how disgusting that church really is.
Posted by: jase | Aug 10, 2007 1:53:44 PM
What would Jesus do? He might murder the good Rev. Simons, for starters.
Posted by: Jake | Aug 10, 2007 1:54:14 PM
Assholes. Judgmental, sanctimonious, holier-than-thou assholes.
They need to be reminded of what Jesus said about the Pharisees.
Posted by: sam | Aug 10, 2007 1:57:03 PM
Considering that they took the low road it's interesting that the name of the church is High Point. And I see from the picture of the minister that they recruit their clergy The Sims.
Posted by: peterparker | Aug 10, 2007 2:03:58 PM
Methinks the Lady Simons doth protest too much.
Posted by: LD | Aug 10, 2007 2:05:27 PM
"OK - so I'm guilty of some stereotypical judgment here, but that photo of "Rev. Gary Simons" exploits every characteristic of a big Mo himself."
Ditto.
I thought that was the dead guy at first until I saw the name. Ring, ring - clue phone - it's for you Rev. Simons.
Posted by: ATLSteve | Aug 10, 2007 2:06:26 PM
Methinks the Lady Simons doth protest too much.
Posted by: LD | Aug 10, 2007 2:06:46 PM
Added:
Funny that they mentioned he's the B in L of Joel Osteen - that queen sets off my gaydar anytime I've seen him on TV as well.
Posted by: ATLSteve | Aug 10, 2007 2:08:06 PM
You've GOT to be kidding me...I can't believe the combined gaydar going off is not crashing the site.
You've GOT to be kidding! OMFG, you've got to be kidding. Really, you're kidding, right?
Posted by: bamjaya | Aug 10, 2007 2:09:20 PM
Even if they think homosexuality is a sin, EVERYONE sins, and this guy is DEAD.
Do they refuse to hold a service for someone who once divorced their wife? Or cheated on their wife? Or stole something? Or lied?
I guess those are all 'forgivable' sins, unlike the love that dare not speak its name.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 10, 2007 2:15:54 PM
I encourage everyone to voice your opinions directly with the church:
High Point Church
2500 E. Arbrook Blvd
Arlington, TX 76014
817.394.3000
www.churchunusual.com (no kidding, that's the church's actual website)
Posted by: Ian | Aug 10, 2007 2:16:25 PM
Gary Simons photo pretty much sez all that need be said.
Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 10, 2007 2:19:00 PM
I live in Dallas and this church is not your typical "mega-congregation", nor is the Lakewood Church that's mentioned. They do public "healings", and believe that prayer will fix everything, including medical issues. This same church is facing a lawsuit over a case where the minister convinced a family not to seek medical care for a child with diabetes. He told them that if they prayed hard enough, and had enough faith, Jesus would heal the child. The child lapsed into a diabetic coma and died, and the church excommunicated the family because they "weren't worthy of God's love"...they're idiots along the lines of the Phelps family.
Posted by: Wayne | Aug 10, 2007 2:20:33 PM
Who fucking needs them or their fucking hypocritical superstitious nonsense? When I die, any organs that are viable I will gladly donate and everything else can be thrown in a dumpster for all I'll care!
Posted by: Michael W. | Aug 10, 2007 2:25:00 PM
To complete the analogy, the family would have to show pictures of their son f*cking another guy. Excuse my french.
Hugging and kissing a man is a sin? No.
Posted by: Marc | Aug 10, 2007 2:25:12 PM
There is a contact box on their web site, http://www.churchunusual.com/
Don't preach to the choir here at Towleroad, let them know directly what you think of their bigoted actions.
Posted by: G. Stefanik | Aug 10, 2007 2:28:49 PM
gary = gayface for daaaaaaaaaaaaaays
Posted by: anthony in sf | Aug 10, 2007 2:29:37 PM
So once again homosexuals are catagorized along with murders and theives! and your right about the photo, at first galnce I thought it must be a pic of the deceased.
Posted by: Larry | Aug 10, 2007 2:32:12 PM
I have tremendous sympathy for the family, both for their loss and for this awful mess which must just be adding to their grief. However, I can't help wondering what they *thought* was going to happen. This is a deeply supersticious (I don't know what else to call what they espouse) congregation, hateful and bigoted on it's face. Did they think photos demonstrating same-sex affection would be accepted? Grudgingly? Celebrated? I don't get it....
Posted by: Bbash | Aug 10, 2007 2:33:47 PM
Quick, somebody out that preacher!
Posted by: Michael W. | Aug 10, 2007 2:36:19 PM
The pastor looks hella gay.
Posted by: fangirlhater | Aug 10, 2007 2:54:35 PM
Gay Christians are traitors. If you're too retarded to get through life without an imaginary sky-fairy, you need to work on that. Anyone who clings to ancient religious superstitions should be transported back to the stone age. If science doesn't have the answers for you, you should be forced to see how much you'd like living without it.
Posted by: Johnny | Aug 10, 2007 2:58:05 PM
He outed himself with that beard.
Target... bullseye!
Posted by: kansastock | Aug 10, 2007 3:00:14 PM