Ethics: Church Member Requests Church Building for Gay Marriage

What would you do Wednesday!

You are on the Building and Grounds Committee for your church. This committee handles all requests to rent the church building for various events. In recent months, the committee has come together to revise the stipulations for who can rent the facilities. Now only church members may request to use the facilities. The main concern is possibly being forced to allow usage of the facilities for a same-sex marriage given the recent legal troubles of a Christian t-shirt printer, bakery, photographer, and florist.

Ironically, the first request ever to use the church building for a gay wedding came in. So a special committee meeting was called to make sure the denial was handled carefully. While reviewing and talking about the request, one of the committee members realized that a church member in good standing submitted the request.

The committee chair spoke with the church member the following day who agreed to meet with the committee. The member was told that providing the church building for a gay marriage was unacceptable and was asked to re-consider. The member asked to meet with the committee to make her case.

The member said she is not in favor of same-sex marriage, but it would be a good way to show her cousin the love of Christ. She said Jesus hung out with sinners and this wedding would give the church a chance to serve, instead of condemn them. She hopes that letting them use the church building will help open their hearts to the gospel.

The member reminded the committee about the legal troubles of the Christian baker and photographer, but did not think she wanted to go that far. But she is willing to ask the decision go before the pastors and/or church.

What would you do?

Let them use it, it’s just a building.
Deny usage unless she gets the law involved.
Deny usage, end of discussion.
Bring the issue before the pastors and/or church.
Or…

Here I blog…

Mark

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tagged as ethics, WWYDW in Christianity,Church Issues,Culture,ethics

About the author

Mark is a Christian, husband and father. A businessman by day; he attends seminary in the off hours working toward an M.Div. More->

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 rhology February 26, 2014 at 10:32 am: Deny usage and call her to repentance for hating the Scripture.
2 Darren February 26, 2014 at 12:10 pm: Happily let them use it to celebrate the love that two people have for one another. Our buildings and our lives should be a celebration of love, not hate.
3 Mark Lamprecht February 26, 2014 at 2:19 pm: Darren, where did you get the notion of hate in this situation?
4 Darren February 26, 2014 at 3:26 pm: I didn’t, Mark. A poor choice of words on my part, for which I’m sorry.
5 Mark Lamprecht February 26, 2014 at 9:29 pm: Thanks for your apology. Though we disagree on letting them use the church building.
6 Eric Douglas February 27, 2014 at 9:33 am: Our church has written in the by laws that there will be no use of church property for anything that conflicts with our stated beliefs. We put that in there to hopefully cover ourselves if the situation ever arises.
7 GK November 16, 2014 at 4:43 pm: I would deny the use of the building. Jesus Christ did keep company with tax collecters and sinners, but he didn’t escort them into the temple and tell them their sins were welcome. The way Christians serve those who don’t believe the Gospel is to speak the Gospel to them, because they are “condemned already” (John 3:18) without any word from us.

Neither we nor even they can open their hearts to the Gospel, they need new hearts of flesh, and to be raised from being dead in sin (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Ephesians 2:1-7).