CRESTVIEW — More than 100 residents attended the first of three planned forums on same-sex attracted Christians, but a local church has canceled the remainder.
The Rev. Michael Precht, First United Methodist Church of Crestview's pastor, planned the “Fearless Conversations” series around the topic, “what the gospel means for gay and lesbian Christians.”
Precht said his goal was “that we become a church that can listen and speak to each other … without raising our hands against one another."
The Jan. 28 program, which featured author Alan Chambers, was held as planned, but the Feb. 9 and 11 conversations — with authors Justin Lee and Eve Tushnet, respectively — are canceled.
“After meeting with and talking it over with some of the core leadership of the church, we decided to focus on topics that are likely to come up at the General Conference of the Methodist Church,” Precht said.
The worldwide gathering, set for May in Portland, Oregon, will cover a range of issues.
“Certainly the (topic) that always makes headlines are conversations around the church and homosexuality, which is why we had the original conversations,” Precht said. “We think we can honor that by refocusing on the general conference, where many of the same questions will be coming up.”
Precht said his church is not abandoning the sensitive subject of same-sex attracted Christians, but will approach it from a more local view.
He has invited a regional Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church delegate to the General Conference to speak in March or April.
“There will always be conversations that make the news” at the conference, Precht said.
“We’re hoping that this will be something that leaves the church better informed, not just on this topic, but on the many things that are the topic of conversation in the Methodist Church.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview church cancels discussions on gay Christians