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When faith, values collide
Some black gays torn by choosing church that speaks to their soul but opposes their sexuality

By Aldrich M. Tan
aldrich.tan@indystar.com

August 13, 2006

Sunday services at Eastern Star Church can draw more than 13,000 mostly black members.

Typically, as the services unfold, a choir gets the congregation clapping and singing. Then comes a hard-hitting sermon.

On one recent Sunday, guest pastor Kenneth Duke told the story of a transvestite weary of homosexuality. Duke said he told the young man that it is possible to leave that life behind, that "all change is possible with God."

Some attendees murmured agreement. Noell Taylor was not among them.

Like many black gays living in Indiana, Taylor, 25, finds herself in a Catch-22: She wants to keep ties with the spiritual heritage of her childhood, but that often means attending a church opposed to homosexuality.

Taylor is a board member of Indiana Black Pride, which wraps up its annual celebration today with a community worship service designed to merge an acceptance of gays with a traditional gospel service.

Eastern Star offers the energetic, passionate worship style that resonates with Taylor and many others -- so its stance on homosexuality does not keep her out of the pews.

Jeffrey A. Johnson, senior pastor at Eastern Star, said the Bible "speaks against homosexuality, and we stand with the Bible."

"I don't know of anyone who is openly gay in my church," Johnson said. "But if someone claims to be openly gay, then we'd pull them aside and . . . try to convince them to God's way and will.

"I want them to hear God's word. But they cannot serve in leadership and ministry with that kind of mentality. It's not just gays, but anyone who is outside of God's will."

Despite that, Johnson said all are welcome in his church.

Even the most conservative churches "have large numbers of gay and lesbian members," said Horace L. Griffin, author of "Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches."

The Rev. John Lambert of Downtown's Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of Indianapolis' original black churches, preaches against homosexuality, but he said he doesn't make an issue out of someone's sexual orientation.

"We don't investigate and we don't interrogate and we just don't get into it," Lambert said. "We don't make it an issue, and we conduct our services based on who comes."

Finding a church that is familiar and accepting is often easier for gay whites because many denominations that preach acceptance of gays offer services that mirror those they grew up with.

But that's often a worship style that does not connect with black gays and lesbians. That's why only 5 percent of Jesus Metropolitan Community Church's congregation is black, the Rev. Jeff Miner said. The Northeastside church was founded in 1990 by 18 gay Christians.

"My church speaks to my gay soul, but not entirely to my black soul," said Robert Ferguson, a deacon for the Jesus Metropolitan Community Church who is president of Indiana Black Pride. "It's hard to not have the visuals, the music, the culture, if you were raised up by it."

Duke's sermon on homosexuality at Eastern Star was an exception to what Taylor typically hears at Eastern Star. She likes the church's usual sermons, which offer practical life lessons -- a common approach among black preachers.

Taylor doesn't see homosexuality as something she can change, anymore than she can stop coming to church.

"I continue to return because I am filled with the word of God when I leave," she says. "I leave with more of an understanding of what God wants from me than when I came."

Call Star reporter Aldrich M. Tan at (317) 444-6309.

IF YOU GO

As part of the Indiana Black Pride celebration of unity in the black gay community, a special church service is planned today.

Delores Berry, a gay black evangelist, will lead a worship service at 10:45 a.m. at Jesus Metropolitan Community Church, 2950 E. 55th Place, with a free soul food brunch immediately following.

Visit www.indianablackpride.com for more information about Indiana Black Pride.

-- Aldrich Tan