COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation in Texas has been told it cannot participate in an evangelical Christian program that assists children of prisoners because of the church’s outspoken gay-friendly stance. Dan De Leon, pastor of Friends Congregational Church, College Station, Texas, said he learned this summer that his church was disqualified from Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree program, which encourages churches to buy Christmas presents for the children of inmates.
Prison Fellowship officials said the church’s stance on homosexuality, declared on its Web site, represented a disagreement about basic scriptural doctrine. “For a church to qualify for Angel Tree, its beliefs must be consistent with our Statement of Faith, including being Trinitarian and accepting the unique authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and life,” reads a July 24 letter the church received from Prison Fellowship. “As we have looked at the doctrine and beliefs of your church in light of our Statement of Faith and partnering guidelines, we have determined that your church does not qualify as part of our program.”
De Leon said he called the regional office of Prison Fellowship and was told his church was disqualified because it belongs to the UCC’s Open and Affirming Movement that welcomes gays and lesbians as members. “Personally it came as a shock and when it was shared with the congregation, it was equally shocking,” said De Leon, whose church draws an average of 120 worshippers on Sundays. “The emotions ran from anger to confusion to just the wind being taken out of our sails as a community initially.”
David Lawson, senior vice president of Prison Fellowship, called the situation “one unfortunate incident” and said “very few” of the more than 12,000 participating churches have been disqualified or disqualified themselves from Angel Tree. Such cases usually involve differing views about homosexuality or creation, he said.
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