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COGIC Pastor Slams Harlem Pride as an "Abomination", Warns Community to Stay Inside

Several New York City pastors are predictably outraged over a proposed Harlem Pride picnic that is scheduled later this month in a local park, reports the New York Daily News. The loudest protests? From the rabidly anti-gay Church of God in Christ

"If children start to believe it is okay to be gay, they will think it's okay to be a pedophile or have sex with animals," said Dr. Ronald Ferguson, the senior pastor at Antioch Church of God on W. 124th St. "It's a slippery slope."

Ferguson, who has three adult children and four grandkids, said he expects parishioners to follow his lead and stay indoors when the second annual Harlem Pride event arrives June 24. "This gay pride nonsense is an abomination," Ferguson told the Daily News. "God does not want to see homosexuals in our parks."

Neither do Ferguson or some other local pastors fuming over the celebration of gay rights set for Marcus Garvey Park. "The park is a family area, and the homosexual agenda will do nothing but harm the community," said Pastor Charles Curtis of Mount Olivet Baptist Church.

Too bad Pastor Ferguson will stay indoors. It might be a beautiful day to tool around Harlem in his brand new Jaguar ...

Harlem Pride President Carmen Neely says she won't back down: "I want the gay and lesbian people of uptown to have a celebration of our own. This will be different than the events in the West Village because it will be filled with people of color. ... I realize the church plays a big role in the black community, but we're people, too, and deserve our day in the sun."

Ferguson might want to look closer to home. COGIC—the largest Pentecostal denomination in the U.S. and the second largest African-American denomination—rivals the Catholic Church for the many sexual predators within its leadership. Last fall, a Las Vegas COGIC pastor  was arrested on 11 sexual abuse charges. A former COGIC pastor was sentenced to 20 years on rape charges in January 2010.  In March 2010, an Alabama COGIC bishop was also accused of sexual misconduct. 

Despite COGIC's hardline on gays—or maybe because of it—the church has always attracted many Black gay men. In November 2010 at the COGICs Holy Convocation Youth Service in Memphis, the infamously "ex-gay"—or should we say merely "re-closeted"—Grammy Award winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin delivered an incendiary rant against gays and gay youth and compared them to vampires.

Las Vegas COGIC Pastor Arrested on 11 Sexual Abuse Counts

This is becoming a sadly familiar story. Yet another pastor in the rabidly anti-gay Church of God in Christ—the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States and the second largest African-American denomination—is accused of sexual misconduct against teenage boys. A Las Vegas pastor was arrested on 11 sexual abuse charges ... five years after a similar case against him was dropped, reports the Las Vegas Sun.

Billy Eckstine McCurdy, 57, pastor of the Revival Temple Church of God in Christ, was taken into custody at 1 p.m. Friday at his home in North Las Vegas without incident, police said. The alleged victims say they were forced into a sexual relationship with McCurdy, police said. They allege he used his position in the church and biblical scriptures to control them and force them into sex acts, police said.

Police said McCurdy spent a great deal of time with young people, including on youth trips to Arizona and California. Police said he conducted events at his home with young men, including sleepovers, and allowed teenagers — two victims involved in the case, among them — to live with him for extended periods. According to the criminal complaint, the alleged crimes happened between April 2007 and October 2009.

The teen boys testified at a grand jury, which indicted McCurdy last Thursday on six counts of sexual assault and five counts of open or gross lewdness. McCurdy is being held at the Clark County Detention Center without bail, adds the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Detectives believe "other victims" have not come forward.

Similar charges were dropped in 2005, after North Las Vegas Police arrested McCurdy after a teenage boy told investigators the pastor fondled him while they slept in the same bed. Will McCurdy's congregation stand by their pastor ... again? Or will they blame the boys for coming forward?

This becomes only the latest charge of sexual misconduct within the Church of God in Christ, which is well known for attracting many closeted black gay men and rivals the Catholic Church for the many sexual predators within its leadership. COGIC is embroiled in numerous lawsuits and criminal investigations around clergy sexual abuse—there is a micro-site on the Church website—and has been accused of covering up sexual misconduct cases for decades. On January 30, a former COGIC pastor was sentenced to 20 years on charges he raped a teenage girl some 25 years ago. One church reportedly has four convicted pedophiles on its payroll. And in March 2010, an Alabama COGIC bishop was also accused of sexual misconduct.

In November 2010 at the Church of God in Christ's Holy Convocation Youth Service in Memphis, the infamously "ex-gay"—or should we say merely "re-closeted"—Grammy Award winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin delivered an incendiary rant against gays and gay youth and compared them to vampires.  Glass houses, stones, etc..

 

Gospel Stars Karen Clark Sheard and Deitrick Haddon to Headline NOM Rally at U.S. Capitol

The National Organization for Marriage will conclude its summer hate tour on August 15 on the steps of the United States Capitol in Washington. The "Summer Marriage Tour" has been poorly attended so far but the final event may draw a crowd: Grammy Award gospel megastar Karen Clark Sheard and Dietrick Haddon.

Sheard is the former member of the The Clark Sisters, the best-selling female gospel group in history. Their iconic 1980's hit "You Brought The Sunshine" was the among the first gospel singles to became a major crossover hit on contemporary R&B radio. Sheard has performed with Donnie McClurkin and last January, the duo received a Grammy for Best Gospel Performance. Sheard is a member of the Church of God in Christ—the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States and well known for attracting many closeted black gay men, many of whom are her biggest fans, adds Darian Aaron. 

Sheard and her siblings are often credited for blending the sound of popular music with gospel. Sheard's brand of gospel music along with her daughter's, gospel sensation Kiera Sheard is no stranger to gays and lesbians and can be frequently heard inside gay clubs. If there was any doubt regarding where Sheard stood on LGBT rights, despite being apart of an industry and a religious denomination overflowing with gay and lesbian people, her upcoming performance in support of stripping a segment of the American population of their civil rights will deliver a strong answer. It's a sad day when a voice that has the power to heal and unite people is being used as a weapon of mass destruction.

Detroit-based gospel singer and minister Deitrick Haddon will also perform. Haddon was the first major name in black gospel music to speak out against fellow gospel singer Tonex's confirmation of his long-rumored sexuality. "All Gospel singers are not Gay as I don’t have a sissy bone in my body," Haddon ranted on Twitter.

NOM is apparently attempting to partner with the rabidly anti-gay COGIC, which is the nation's second-largest black denomination. In June NOM presented the top two COGIC male and female leaders with an award. And last week, COGIC's San Diego Bishop Bishop George McKinney issued a statement—curiously, through NOM—blasting Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's Proposition 8 ruling. 

Alveda King, niece of slain civil rights legend Dr. Martin Luther King, headlined NOM's poorly-attended Atlanta rally over the weekend. But the August 15 rally will be undoubtedly have the largest marquee names on NOM's hate tour. Will Karen Clark Sheard and Deitrick Haddon be able to attract a crowd? And will Karen Clark Sheard's performance at the NOM rally hurt her standing among her many Black gay fans? The first question remains to be seen but sadly, I think we all know the answer to that last question ...

UPDATE: NOM is no longer advertising Karen Clark Sheard's appearance. NOM's website now only lists Deitrick Haddon for August 15.

"Ex-Gay" Donnie McClurkin to Headline Boston's Gospel Fest

Grammy Award winning gospel singer and evangelist Donnie McClurkin will headline the City of Boston's Tenth Annual GospelFest on July 18, reports The Boston Phoenix. The free concert will be produced with taxpayer funds and will take place at City Hall Plaza.

The infamously "ex-gay"—or perhaps "re-closeted"—gospel singer delivered an incendiary rant against gay youth and recently out gospel singer Tonex at the Church of God in Christ's Holy Convocation Youth Service last November in Memphis. McClurkin's hateful rant went viral across the internet.  McClurkin compared LGBT youth to "vampires" and added: "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go. These young girls are just as bad as the boys ... there are some evil young hard butch girls."

Mayor Tom Menino's office claims they were unaware of McClurkin's record, reports The Phoenix.

"Clearly, though, the choice of the Grammy-winning McClurkin for the free concert puts Menino in a bind, says local activist and Bay Windows columnist Reverend Irene Monroe. 'Our mayor is pro-gay and pro-same-sex marriage,' she says. Yet at the same time, McClurkin appeals to "the black Christian conservative community — which is a strong voting constituency." McClurkin and his 'ex-gay' message has no place at a taxpayer-funded community event, says Monroe. 'Our mayor and city hall represent all of its residents, not just Christian conservatives,' she says. 'It's fine to have a gospel singer, but given his history, it's a denunciation of inclusion.' Monroe also says there's little possibility that McClurkin could walk onto the City Hall Plaza stage and simply belt out his hits without discussing politics or his personal life. 'In gospel, it's not enough to just sing,' she says, 'We want to hear the narrative.'

At Donnie McClurkin's October 2008 performance in Barbados, the Pentecostal evangelist received "thunderous applause" after comparing gays to "drug dealers, prostitutes and gang members."

McClurkin has somewhat addressed the persistent rumors about his personal life. The gospel singer maintains he is no longer gay but recently suggested he still has same-sex urges, comparing homosexuality to diabetes: "I don’t eat sugar, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want sugar."

Via: ChiTown Kev at Pam's House Blend

Alabama COGIC Bishop Peter Wren Sr Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Yet another high-ranking official in the Church of God in Christ—the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States and the second largest African-American denomination—is accused of sexual misconduct. Bishop Peter Wren Sr., who is the head of the Third Alabama Jurisdictional and pastors the East Birmingham COGIC, has been accused by at least two women in his jurisdiction of being a sexual predator.

The allegations surfaced on social networking sites. Wren, who is married with children, denies the accusations and claims the woman is trying to "slander" him:

"She befriended my family and eventually moved into our home. For a period of (2) two years she stayed with my family, providing her a roof over her head and food to eat; worked at my place of business, providing her with revenue to support herself. In just a little while she would show a forming motive, after consumptions of alcohol, she would make advances at me. After rebukes and repeat attempts, I put her out of my home. She became angry and left the church and now is seeking ways to destroy my character by spreading these horrible lies. Tiffany_____, it is my recommendation that you seek some type of Psychiatric help and if these lies continue it leaves me no choice but to take legal actions against you because of Slander and Deformation[sic] of Character.

But another woman also comes forward and says there are many other cases.

“I also come as a victim of Bishop Peter Wren Sr. You confide in him some of your intimate secrets seeking spiritual guidance and he then takes those same secrets and guide you into unwarranted sexual advances and also his bed. I was too young and naïve to see through the deceit because like most innocent souls, we seek love and acceptance no matter what form."

Officials at the Memphis-based COGIC, which claims to have a "zero-tolerance" policy on sexual abuse, have refused comment and will not say if there is an official investigation.

This becomes only the latest charge of sexual misconduct within the rabidly anti-gay Church of God in Christ, which is well known for attracting so many closeted black gay men and rivals the Catholic Church for the many sexual predators within its leadership. COGIC is embroiled in numerous lawsuits and criminal investigations around clergy sexual abuse—there is a micro-site on the Church website—and has been accused of covering up sexual misconduct cases for decades. On January 30, a former COGIC pastor was sentenced to 20 years on charges he raped a teenage girl some 25 years ago. One church reportedly has four convicted pedophiles on its payroll.

BTW: The Church of God in Christ was the denomination that hosted Donnie McClurkin for his now-infamous rant against gay youth when he compared gay men to "vampires". Glass houses much?

In 2008, Ronald Paige, an Arkansas COCIC pastor, was killed by a young man who accused him of rape and molestation. Numerous male victims and their families have stepped forward with similar claims. One woman says she spoke to COGIC bishops about Paige molesting her son in the early 1980s and nothing was done. Watch a news report AFTER THE JUMP ...

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WATCH: 19YO "Prophet" Brian Carn Rants Against "Perverted" Gays

Brian Carn is a very popular 19-year-old self-described "prophet" who has fused the best (and worst) of old school Pentecostal tent revivals with 21st century social networking. In this clip the Jacksonville, Florida-based evangelist shares one of his latest epiphanies ... that the black church has becoming too "welcoming to homosexuals".

Says the teenage "prophet": "I had a vision. And in my vision, I saw him [the pastor] in his home. And in his home I saw him smoking a cigarette. And I saw two homosexual guys, on his right and on his left. And... in the vision, I left his house and went to the service. He was preaching and people were going crazy, he was so good. But then I went back in the vision and saw him leave the church and go back to the house. With a boy on the right and a boy on the left, smoking a cigarette. I came out the vision and said, 'Lord, what is this?' He said it's the spirit of perversion in my house."

Carn adds that he returned (in real life) to this particular pastor's service and was crying because the black church has become "so perverted and deceived".

True, there are any number of pastors who rant against gays by day and creep on the down-low at night. But has this "perversion" taken over the black church? And are so many black churches now "welcoming homosexuals" and pushing for our rights?  Kids say the darndest things. Watch the clip AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Gunmen Open Fire at Bay Area COGIC Service, 2 Injured

Two teenagers are injured after a gunman horrified the congregation of a San Francisco Bay area church when pulled out a gun and opened fire.

The gunfire was captured on video. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP.

No arrests have been made or suspects named in the Sunday shooting at New Gethsemane Church of God in Christ in Richmond. More than 120 church members witnessed the shooting and say three men paced up and down an aisle—apparently looking for one or more targets —before shooting the victims near the back of the church. Police are not sure if the 14-year-old and 19-year-old men injured were the intended victims.

The injured teens are are expected to survive and are not cooperating with police, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Members of congregation "apparently scared to get involved, were unwilling to look at photo lineups," the newspaper adds.

Gunmen opening fire during broad daylight in a church service? What's next?

Watch KRON's report AFTER THE JUMP ...

Was the Black Church's Silence "Complicit" in Spreading HIV?

Many people say yes.

On Thursday we posted The New Yorker's brilliant profile of gospel singer Tonex and the black church's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hypocrisy around gays in church. Today at The Grio, writer Patrick D. Shaffer criticizes the anti-gay and charismatic black Pentecostal churches that have even mocked black gay men even in death:

The bishop opened with a greeting and then said what I knew was coming: "Well, when a duck dies, ducks come to the funeral. When a chicken dies, chickens come to the funeral. And by looking at who has come to this funeral today we all know what Robert was!"

Robert was a gay man who had passed away from AIDS. I have often and still experience much shame as I listen to hate-filled rhetoric (and most times criminally hypocritical) from the black pulpit that polarizes and exploits members of our churches when it comes to the issues of sexuality, sex and HIV/AIDS. I am almost 35 years-old and have been in the church all my life and I have been to as many funerals for men and women under the age of 45 who have died from HIV/AIDS as the number of years I have been alive.

Most, if not all of these deaths were the effect of specific and harmful behaviors that were nurtured in the hetero-self-hating and homophobic society of the black Pentecostal church. In my twenty some odd years of observing and doing care work within the church, my conclusion is that the black church has been complicit in the spreading of HIV/AIDS because of our deafening silence on this issue that has never escaped us. From day one the issue has been seated in our pews and we have most often looked away. Our conscious sin has been to allow young lives to end because of our phobias, biases and bigotry. The deeper subconscious sin still left unattended to, may be found in the question: Why are we okay with this?

Last August while appearing on CNN, Judge Penny Brown Reynolds said the black community and black church "need[s] to remove the shame and the self-worth issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. ... The black church needs to be at the forefront of this like civil rights."

It's generally regarded that homophobia and discomfort surrounding sexual issues was the reason the mainstream black churches were slow to respond to HIV/AIDS. Only two years ago and 25 years into the HIV/AIDS crisis, the National Baptist Convention USA, the nation's largest black religious organization, finally mentioned HIV/AIDS for the first time. The NAACP's official publications continue to mention HIV/AIDS only as far as its impact on black women. Meanwhile: The Centers for Disease Controls reports young black men who have sex with men are the demographic hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

Read the full essay at The Grio ...

"The New Yorker" Profiles Tonex

Brilliant. The New Yorker profiles Tonex, the Stellar Award-winning gospel singer/songwriter and minister who recently confirmed his long-rumored sexuality. Tonex became the first to do so in black gospel music and shattered its well-guarded glass closet doors.

Kelefa Sanneh writes (pdf): "Many of his fans wondered what took him so long. Maybe some of them wondered, too, what took gospel music so long, because the question that Tonéx finally answered has been haunting the genre for for the better part of a century."

Tonex, who grew up in the anti-gay and charismatic Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (P.A.W.) and is the son of pastor, describes trying to come out:

Tonéx sensed early on that he was attracted to other boys, and he spent the better part of three decades trying to figure out what that might mean for him. One day when he was eighteen, he told his parents that he thought he was bisexual. His father said, “You need to go listen to some gospel records,” and his mother just cried. Not long afterward, Pastor Williams preached a sermon in which he decried “faggots.” (The next week, Pastor Williams apologized to the congregation for his choice of words.) Tonéx says, “Perhaps he thought that by speaking on it so harshly it would make me turn the other way.” When Tonéx started preaching, he occasionally denounced homosexuality, too, partly because such denunciations work so well. “You can talk about a slut, a hussy, a heifer, a player, any other subject— you are not going to get the response you get when you start talking about fags, or gays,” he says. “It’s like a football game!”

Given the proliferation of gay men in black gospel music, it's ironic that Tonex's father prescribed listening "to some gospel records" to cure his homosexuality. And Tonex is right, there's nothing like good ole-fashioned gay-bashing to motivate many so-called "Christians" and church folk.

The profile appears in the current February 8 issue of The New Yorker. At ten pages, it's not a quick read but is captivating and should be required reading. It's also to The New Yorker's credit that they took on the black church's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hypocrisy around gays in the church.  The article is subscription only but a PDF is here. Love to hear your thoughts.

The New Yorker: Revelations [pdf]

Some Background:
Tonex on Black Church's Hypocrisy on Gays
Gospel Singer Deitrick Haddon: "Not a Sissy Bone in My Body"
WATCH: Gospel Star Tonex Confirms Same Sex Attraction

Full Page Ad Responds to McClurkin: "Black & Gay is Beautiful"

Black gay activists take out a full page advertisement in response to Donnie McClurkin's hateful "ex-gay" and 'anti-gay" rants. The advert runs in today's Metro NY. Click for larger version.

Pastor Joseph Tolton of Rehoboth Temple wrote the official response on behalf of New York’s black gay men and counters the "hypocrisy in the pulpit" and "spiritual" violence of McClurkin and homophobic black churches. It reads in part: "For those of us in faith who have always loved the black church, the defining issue of our lives has been the churches damning stance on homosexuality. As children, the condemnation broke our spirit. As adolescents, this ridicule broke our hearts. As young adults, this disdain has attempted to drive us to the brink. Spiritual violence is wrong and it kills the spirit. The black church must find new ways to talk about sex and sexuality."

At the recent Church of God in Christ's Holy Convocation Youth Service, the allegedly "ex-gay" delivered an incendiary rant against gays and gay youth in particular. Said McClurkin: "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go. These young girls are just as bad as the boys in homosexuality, you don't see it. They can hide ... but there are some evil young hard butch girls."

Tolton adds this message to McClurkin: "You are not a man who loves men because of being molested as a child. That grave and despicable tragedy broke your spirit and damaged your mind; however, it did not have the capacity to change your DNA."

Pastor Tolton is seen in the center of the photo. From left to right: Actor Cornelius Jones; Activist Sheldon DeSouza; Michael Whittaker; Tolton; HIV activists Gaynel Sheffield and Pat Desrolers; and openly gay R&B singer Nhojj. Bravo to Pastor Tolton and these activists. Donnie McClurkin's experience was the exception and not the rule. This is much more accurate picture of our black LGBT community—diverse and confident.

Thanks ANDRES DUQUE!