Religious Left

After more than seven years as pastor of Union United Methodist Church in Boston’s South End, during which time he made welcoming the gay community into the life of the historically black church a significant piece of his ministry, the Rev. Martin McLee has been appointed to a new position within the United Methodist Church. When McLee arrived at Union nearly eight years ago from a Dallas church, his mission was to make Union a bridge builder in a diverse community that he perceived to have "this tribalistic understanding of life - this group here, this group [over] here." McLee became Union’s pastor just after the congregation made history by voting to become a Reconciling Congregation, meaning one that advocates for the full inclusion of LGBT people into the life of the United Methodist Church, whose official doctrine holds that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching" and prohibits the ordination of openly gay ministers. Union was the first histor...

Pastor Salvatore Roggio, of Millville, New Jersey, was compelled to hang a sign outside his church that read, "Help for the Homosexual" promoting the week's sermon delivered by "ex-gay" Greg Quinlan . "I do not believe that people are born gay," Pastor Salvatore Roggio said, speaking in front of the sign. Roggio believes homosexuality is an addiction - like alcoholism - and can be broken. Unfortunately for Rev. Roggio's daughter, she is a lesbian born into the family of a man who believes homosexuality is a choice. The 29-year-old woman came out to her parents when she was 18, after struggling for years with her sexuality and the ramifications of her father's religious beliefs. " It is with great sadness that I learned of the public statements my father has made against my community ," said Sharon Roggio. She continued, "Just as straight people never made the choice to be straight, gays and lesbians never made the choice to be ...