Texas church refuses to host memorial service that would have glorified homosexu

Texas church refuses to host memorial service that would have glorified homosexuality

The pastor of a Texas church that refused to host a memorial service for a homosexual says the entire story has not been reported in the national media.

Gary Simons is pastor of High Point Church in Arlington. Last week, Lee Sinclair -- an employee and also a member of the church -- called a church staff member to let them know his brother, Cecil, was in critical condition and in the hospital. Cecil Sinclair, who was not a member, died a short time later.

The church offered to host Mr. Sinclair's memorial service for free. However, when the family submitted photos for a memorial service video, Pastor Simons says church staff became concerned.

"One of the female staff personnel had called me -- I was on a family vacation -- and said, 'We have some inappropriate photos here and we don't know what to do.' And I [asked], 'Well, what do you mean inappropriate?' [She responded] 'Well, openly homosexual.'"

Also, friends and family wanted a local homosexual choir to sing at the service, as well as an open mike so anyone attending the memorial service could speak. In addition, ministers of the church would not be allowed to direct the service or to have control over what was said or emphasized. "Basically, they were asking us for our place of worship -- but they were going to celebrate what they wanted to celebrate," says Simons. "And of course homosexuality is not something -- [according to] our principles, based in the Word of God -- that we celebrate."

Consequently, the pastor says, the decision was made to retract the offer to host the memorial service because the event would have been a celebration not of the Navy veteran's life, but instead of the homosexual lifestyle.

"We had to live by our principles," says Simons of that decision. "We would hypocritical if we didn't stand by what we believed concerning homosexuality. We believe the Word of God does not condone homosexuality. But at the same time, we made a strong attempt to practice the love of Jesus."

Pastor Simons points out that the church produced the memorial video for the family, without the inappropriate photos. In addition, many High Point members cooked and delivered food to Cecil Sinclair's family and friends. He also reports that several High Point staff members attended the memorial service to support the family and reported afterwards that the "tone" of the service was openly homosexual.

In a statement read to the High Point congregation on Sunday, Simons stated his belief that the church acted properly and according to God's Word in holding firm to its convictions concerning homosexuality.

"It's our desire to always demonstrate the love of Christ to all people in both word and deed," says the statement. "We would hope that the Sinclair family and the homosexual community would see our love for them through the many acts of kindness and outreach that we have extended to them. We realize that they might not agree with our convictions, but we hope that they would respect them."