A Request of Castro Valley Churches

I believe in our constitution, the one that guarantees equal protection under the law to all citizens. I believe in the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. So I would never tell any of Castro Valley’s churches what they can or cannot preach. I can, however, raise awareness of WHAT is being preached, and I can ASK those churches to please stop preaching against Castro Valley’s LGBT families. While so many businesses, organizations, athletic teams, politicians and welcoming faith leaders are telling our gay youth that “it gets better” these churches are saying that it doesn’t really get better unless they stop being gay.

On July 15th of last year (just before Castro Valley Pride) Matthew Blevins preached at First Baptist on ‘Same Sex Attraction’ in which he said that being gay “misses the mark” that God intended when he made us. You can listen yourself online on their website. On August 19th at Neighborhood Church Tyler Scott preached on ‘The Matter of Homosexuality’ in which he said that God painted a picture of “natural things” and we apparently don’t belong in that picture. You can find his sermon on their website. Redwood Chapel has preached about us before and has indicated they will do so again. I’m asking them all to please stop. We know that Jesus didn’t discuss homosexuality, nor did any of the four Canonical Gospels. It was only Paul, and he wrote about many things we never hear about in sermons.

Perhaps they could preach on female ordination (1 Corinthians 14:34), or women who pray without covering their heads (1 Corinthians 11:5), or those who wear jewelry (1 Timothy 2:8). Or even a sermon about working on the Sabbath. But please, no more sermons on being gay. It only causes pain and conflict for those who know they are gay and can’t change – but are being told they must change.

There is nothing wrong with us, our relationships or our families. I’m asking these churches to stop and instead help make Castro Valley a welcome place for everyone in our community. Thanks for reading and thank you for your support.