November 19, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Over the past decade, attacks on Canada’s Christian communities by LGBT activists have escalated significantly. In Alberta, Education Minister David Eggen is threatening to defund and possibly shut down religious schools that do not accept Gay-Straight alliance clubs. Canada’s Supreme Court recently ruled against Trinity Western University, a private Christian institution in British Columbia, for having students agree to a lifestyle contract upon enrollment. And of course, attempts to force schools to teach gender ideology are taking place simultaneously in nearly every province across the country.
I’ve seen many Canadian Christians post articles describing these events on social media, often accompanied by the million dollar question: “What’s next?” I suspect that I’ve known the answer to that question for some time, but recent events in Ontario indicate that it could happen sooner than I’d thought. The potential catalyst is a story that has been reported on breathlessly by Canadian media for just over a week now.
A Bowmanville woman, Kimberley Mills, was attending the Calvary Baptist Church in Oshawa, Ontario. Calvary Baptist, like most churches (and all Christian churches for the past two thousand years prior to a few decades ago) holds to the traditional biblical teaching on sexual morality. Mills, however, has been in a relationship with her partner Meghan Fowler for several years. Despite the many liberal churches she could have attended that would have been more than thrilled to celebrate her relationship, Mills chose to attend a church that adheres to what the Bible says about sexuality, and even to serve as youth leader.
After sharing with people in her church that she was in a long-term same-sex relationship, she was removed from the membership rolls of Calvary Baptist Church in November, and received a letter from the church leadership informing her of this fact. This is standard practice for many churches: Membership is voluntary, but members must abide by the rules of the church community. As reported by the Toronto Star:
“It is a very serious matter to remove a member for discipline as you will note in the 1 Corinthians 5:5 text, and our hearts are broken over it,” said the letter signed by Dr. Tim Wagner, deacon chair.
Representatives from the church released a followup statement to say that everyone is welcome to attend Sunday services, regardless of whether they are members. However, the church does have the option to remove someone from membership — a “voluntary association of like-minded individuals.”
“We love and care for everyone since we are all made in the Image of God,” said the Calvary Baptist Church statement. “Those who choose to become members of Calvary Baptist Church share our theological and doctrinal beliefs and agree to live in accordance with those beliefs. When an individual ceases to hold those beliefs or live in accordance with them, as has recently happened, that individual may be removed from membership but always remains welcome to attend our services and other programs.”
The letter informed her that she was “living in disobedience to the Scriptures,” which made Mills very upset. The Star noted that this conflict “thrust [her] into the role of gay rights advocate,” and quoted Mills explaining that, “It’s clear that something needs to change. I feel that God designed me the way I am and He’s going to love me the way I am.” She promptly went public on social media, and says she has been (predictably) receiving much public support, as well as getting many messages from pastors informing her that they were in complete approval of her relationship. Again, it is difficult to understand why Mills did not choose to attend a church presided by over one of those pastors to begin with.
Mills now says that she had “started to be concerned about coming out at the church when a sermon took a strong stand against homosexuality,” and “felt like she wasn’t able to be true to herself while at church.” (This is understandable, as biblical churches do not exist to help people feel “true to themselves,” but rather speak of the need for repentance and obedience to God.) Mills had several discussions with church leaders that she found unsatisfactory, and instead decided to leave the church—“but she plans to continue speaking out about her experience.”
That experience has already attracted the attention of one gay activist, who has now put Calvary Baptist Church in his crosshairs:
Oshawa community advocate Mac Moreau has launched a letter-writing campaign asking the Canada Revenue Agency to review the charitable status of Calvary Baptist Church. As a registered charity, churches receive significant tax breaks from the provincial and federal government — with the requirement that churches devote all of their resources to charity.
“The church has allowed its resources to be used for activities that promote hate and intolerance,” said Moreau. “If you are going to promote hate and intolerance, you shouldn’t receive benefits from the Canadian government that all Canadians contribute to.”
Moreau said the letter — and potentially ensuing CRA assessment — isn’t meant to close the Calvary Baptist Church. The aim is to support other gay parishioners who are feeling pushed out of their churches, and to hopefully serve as a warning to all churches that preach intolerance.
“This isn’t meant to destroy a church family,” said Moreau, who attended the Calvary Baptist Church as a child and said he later left over concerns about the messages of obedience and intolerance. “This is simply to say in this day-and-age, when you’re receiving benefits from the public purse, this is not acceptable.”
This will be the next strategic move on the part of Canadian LGBT activists. Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has already placed an ideological litmus test (which includes LGBT issues as well as abortion) as a prerequisite for gaining access to the Canada Summer Jobs Program, and soon enough LGBT activists will turn their attention to those churches (and other religious institutions) that still hold to the traditional biblical teaching on sexuality. Perhaps Kimberley Mills will be the catalyst, or perhaps somebody else will. But it will happen, and probably sooner rather than later.
4 thoughts on “LGBT activists will come after the charitable status of churches next”
Melissa says:
I guess my biggest question here is, does the community at Calvary Baptist refuse memberships to people who are divorced and remarried (maybe barring adultery)? Do they ask for criminal records checks, or if they otherwise find out that someone has been accused of fraud or theft, would that person have his or her membership revoked? What I am trying to say is, are gay folks singled out as sinners, or are all sinners denied membership? And if all sinners are denied membership, how does the congregation manage to have any members at all?
Or is it that the woman in question refuses to admit that her same sex sexual activity is a sin? In which case it’s a case of “Change your theology to suit my lifestyle.”
Still struggle with the fact that they revoked her membership though. I’m not sure that was the most Christian way to handle the situation.
Like any church like this, if people are living in public sin, adultery, divorce, thieving, bribery, etc and they do not stop when confronted will be excommunicated! If they repent from their public sin, they would have to publicly confess they sinned, promising to no longer live in sin! It is not only adultery! Unfortunately it is now a popular political agenda to make a huge fuss over homosexuality! Our popular media and social media couldn’t care less if someone was excommunicated for stealing, bribing, etc! That is why you would never hear about it!
It would be better to close the church down than to bend the knee to baal and accept open sodomite abomination in the church. Meet in homes just like the early church did, if necessary.
Jesus came to call sinners to repent( ie:STOP , do a 180 degree turn on their sins). He told us “ Lest you repent you will likewise perish.” I have seen testimonies from exLGBT saying that Satan was whispering to them that they were born that way and would not change. Well Jesus put him to shame 2,000 years ago. Jesus told us “ Lest you be born again, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”. “ He who does DENY himself daily and take up his cross does not deserve me.” “ The flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.”.
I guess my biggest question here is, does the community at Calvary Baptist refuse memberships to people who are divorced and remarried (maybe barring adultery)? Do they ask for criminal records checks, or if they otherwise find out that someone has been accused of fraud or theft, would that person have his or her membership revoked? What I am trying to say is, are gay folks singled out as sinners, or are all sinners denied membership? And if all sinners are denied membership, how does the congregation manage to have any members at all?
Or is it that the woman in question refuses to admit that her same sex sexual activity is a sin? In which case it’s a case of “Change your theology to suit my lifestyle.”
Still struggle with the fact that they revoked her membership though. I’m not sure that was the most Christian way to handle the situation.
Like any church like this, if people are living in public sin, adultery, divorce, thieving, bribery, etc and they do not stop when confronted will be excommunicated! If they repent from their public sin, they would have to publicly confess they sinned, promising to no longer live in sin! It is not only adultery! Unfortunately it is now a popular political agenda to make a huge fuss over homosexuality! Our popular media and social media couldn’t care less if someone was excommunicated for stealing, bribing, etc! That is why you would never hear about it!
It would be better to close the church down than to bend the knee to baal and accept open sodomite abomination in the church. Meet in homes just like the early church did, if necessary.
Jesus came to call sinners to repent( ie:STOP , do a 180 degree turn on their sins). He told us “ Lest you repent you will likewise perish.” I have seen testimonies from exLGBT saying that Satan was whispering to them that they were born that way and would not change. Well Jesus put him to shame 2,000 years ago. Jesus told us “ Lest you be born again, you will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”. “ He who does DENY himself daily and take up his cross does not deserve me.” “ The flesh will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.”.