A church in Tampa, Florida recently refused to hold a funeral for a man solely because he was gay.
The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church cancelled the service meant to honor Julion Evans’ memory after the pastor found out that Evans had been married to another man.
The pastor’s name is T.W. Jenkins, and he provoked the ire of the deceased man’s mother, Julie Atwood, and other members of the community when he called off the service the day before it was scheduled.
In fact, Atwood received the news during her son’s wake. She says:
It was devastating. I did feel like he was being denied the dignity of death.When pressed about his exclusionary decision, pastor Jenkins said:
Based on our preaching of the scripture, we would have been in error to allow the service in our church. I’m not trying to condemn anyone’s lifestyle, but at the same time, I am a man of God, and I have to stand up for my principles.
It would seem that denying someone his basic funeral rites due to his sexual orientation is about as strong a condemnation of a given lifestyle that one could make.
It’s unfortunate that such discrimination is still taking place today, especially when it’s perpetrated by an organization that claims to stand for love, peace and acceptance for all.
Luckily, Atwood was able to find a place to hold the funeral service in time, but obviously, the whole experience was scarring for the grieving mother.
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