Florida church that hosted youth LGBTQ+ conference days

Florida church that hosted youth LGBTQ+ conference days after "queer" pastor leaves the church, now facing public backlash.

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NAPLES, FL – The Naples United Church of Christ (NUCC) is making headlines, and it appears they are proud of it. The church’s website claims that they are “a traditional church for progressive people.”

 

And they are standing by that statement. On their homepage, they have a scrolling banner link at the top.

 

One of them is called “In The News.” It takes you to a news article about an upcoming LGBTQ+ event. That event was held at the church on Saturday, May 21, that was sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) of Collier County.

According to the organizer’s website, the event was described as a “one-day conference, created by and for LGBTQ youth, will provide students with the opportunity to engage in LGBTQ-related issues facing them today while empowering them to be confident in all their identities.”

The conference was for students between 12 and 18 years of age.

They were even providing breakfast and lunch for all attendees as well as hosting a drag show to highlight some of the local drag queens in attendance.

The registration form asks attendees to acknowledge that the event is not associated with the church or the local school district.

The Collier County Public School system was quick to address that they were in no way involved after rumors began circulating that students were being bussed from schools without parental knowledge.

Those rumors are believed to have stemmed from the fact that organizers arranged free shuttle services within the local area. Some of the shuttle points may have included school parking lots.

According to the Post Millennial:

 

“The District was never informed nor contacted about this event. CCPS [Collier County Public Schools] is not a sponsor of the event, which is being held at a private facility. CCPS also neither authorized nor approved the transportation of CCPS students to and from district school sites by the event organizers. Any inference to the contrary is fully rejected by CCPS.” 

 

The district also stated that their school properties could not be used as pick-up/drop-off points.

Chris Schmeckpeper-Kobzina, GLSEN-Collier Co-chair, said:

“We’re not doing something in the school, we’re not doing something at the school, we’re not meeting at the school.”

 

Yet, they state that their “mission is to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”

So, whether Schmeckpeper-Kobzina is willing to publicly state it, this event was all about school.

What about Naples United Church of Christ? Were they as quick to disavow their endorsement of the event?

Here is an excerpt from the church’s “About” section:

“Naples United Church of Christ, established in 1973, is known throughout the Naples community, not only for our unique white steeple and our highly rated preschool, but for our support for initiatives that call for social justice and compassion.

 

As a traditional church in terms of worship style, we are a progressive church in terms of openness to a wide theological spectrum and the wide variety of lifestyles and orientations in our culture that seek a welcoming and affirming Christian community.”

 

So, in a word, no.

The interim pastor, David Greenshaw, told WINK, “If you look at the side of the church it says, ‘Naples United Church of Christ, an Open and Affirming Congregation,’ and that means this church has discerned and decided that God believes that all people should be loved and that we should be welcoming to all.”

 

The church even takes their stance a step further, saying on their visitor’s page, where they announce:

 

“Naples UCC is an Open and Affirming Congregation, embracing diversity and affirming the dignity and worth of every person, since we are all created in God’s image.

 

We welcome into full membership and participation in the Body of Christ persons of every race, ethnic background, age, GENDER IDENTITY and EXPRESSION, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, physical or mental ability, socio-economic background, marital status and faith background.

 

We welcome all to share in the life, LEADERSHIP, MINISTRY, fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities and blessings or participation in our congregation.” 

 

(Editor’s note: ALL caps in the statement above were added by the author to highlight specific aspects related to this article’s topic.)

 

While almost all Christians agree that God wants all people loved and welcomed by the church, it will be a hard sell to convince most that “loved and welcoming” means the same as accepting and condoning when it comes to their openness towards affirming the “wide variety of lifestyles and orientations” that the church’s website discusses.

More specifically, most would have an issue with members of the LGBTQ+ community serving in leadership positions or serving in a ministerial capacity.

This church obviously has no issue with that, given their previous senior pastor identified as “queer” in his Twitter bio.

Dawson B. Taylor resigned just prior to the event at his former church.

But the affiliation between the church and the organization cannot be denied. Take a look at the tweet that Taylor issued on March 31, 2022.

And it seems that he has been affiliating the group and the church for quite some time. Turns out, Taylor was once a chair of the Collier County chapter.

 

For the record, the pastor also is proud to be pro-choice and a supporter of Planned Parenthood and BLM.

While some sources wrote that he left Naples due to the controversy over the event, it almost appears as though the church hosting the conference was his legacy.

 

Many Christians believe that the Bible is very clear on homosexuality as well as the qualifications to be a pastor.

In case anyone wonders what it means to affirm LGBTQ+ lifestyles, here is a definition form a licensed therapist:

“Affirming an identity or an experience means we encourage, validate, and defend it against those who challenge it. It doesn’t mean we simply ‘tolerate’ it, or that we only recognize it in some cases. That might seem easy to do (‘I accept all people!’). But as we increase our awareness of how frequently identities and experiences are challenged, the more important it is to push back on the pervasively oppressive context in which they simply try to exist. Affirming an identity means we recognize that no matter how much we embrace it, understand it, or participate in it, we’re still part of a mainstream culture that tries to erase it.”

 

In other words, for a church to be affirming the lifestyles discussed in this article, they must not simply tolerate it, they must embrace, celebrate, condone, and endorse it. Furthermore, they must defend those lifestyles against any who challenge them.

Some churches believe that is their calling, even if the challenge is presented in the Bible by God Himself.

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