This is how you make a decision based on bigotry, and then blame the victim of it for your decision in the name of religion.

Easter is coming.

Easter, the very kernel belief of Christianity, the religion of love. After all, God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.

That means that this year would have been the 17th annual Easter Sunrise Service in Stockton, California.

If you have never been to a sunrise service it can be quite impressive. Here you are looking toward the east to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, and when the sun comes up the imagery is rather obvious.

But this year the organizer and Stockton, California’s Police Chaplain Jim Reid, invited a GLBT-inclusive church to attend the citywide Easter celebrations.

All churches in the town were invited.

Now for those who don’t know, a “GLBT-inclusive Church” is not a “Gay church” with a Gay congregation. It is an all inclusive one that welcomes everyone without judging them, but rather makes a space for people to commune with their God as they perceive the deity to be. They promote a personal relationship with the creator without deciding whether or not you should be allowed to have one.

Many established denominations have inclusive churches and follow the tradition of the denomination’s services without any special adaptions. Where you might have been pushed away by a less, or non-inclusive church, at this one You feel comfortable being there and no one gives you the side-eye.

Reid later took back the invite after realizing that the Valley Ministries is a GLBT-affirming church because,

“We are diametrically different in our view of scripture when it comes to homosexuality.”

But the other denominations were still invited even though they may be “diametrically different in our view of scripture”, and at least in one major one  when it comes to the Eucharist where some Christian churches see it as a representation of the body and blood of Christ while at least one other, the Roman Catholic Church, believes that through Transubstantiation it is the real deal.
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It would appear the differences are rather selective.

The on again/off again invitation was obviously the cause of people taking notice, as respectful Gay people in among the worshipers would have gone unnoticed unless there was some sort of entry application that asked rather personal questions before entry was granted or denied.

Things got a little more complicated when the Affirming church’s pastor and her wife were re-invited by the head of the Stockton Leadership Foundation that then unexpectedly cancelled the entire event.

The reason for the total cancellation of the sunrise service was because the service’s “transforming message will be overshadowed as a result of the well-publicised clergy invitations.”

Reid said that if Valley Ministries were allowed to take part, it would lead to “a media frenzy”.

Yeah, one of the Stockton Leadership Foundation’s own thoughtless and biased creation

The chairman of its board “felt it would defeat the purpose of having it. I didn’t think it would bring glory and honor to God. I was in favor of canceling.”

The pastor of Valley Ministries has expressed her concern.

“It’s just disheartening to me that here these folks claim to be Christians … and are squandering this opportunity because of some perceived differences instead of uniting under the banner of what this day is supposed to mean. This is based on fear and not on grace and love. It’d be great if we could have truly a citywide Easter service. Where when you use the label citywide, it should mean everybody.”

So the tradition of apostles deciding who could and who could not approach Jesus, even as this annoyed Jesus Himself, continues.

Three of the four writers of the Gospels tell the same story:

Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.