Church Refuses to Hold Funeral for Homosexual Man because it Would Include Gay Propaganda

The decision is "not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy"

ARLINGTON, August 14, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Christian Church in Texas has refused to hold a funeral for a homosexual man because the family wanted to display a multimedia memorial presentation that condoned his actively homosexual lifestyle.

High Point Church is a large, non-denominational parish that believes that active homosexuality is a sin, Dallas News Morning Reports. When 46-year old Navy veteran Cecil Sinclair died on Monday, High Point initially agreed to hold a service for him because his brother was a member of the church. Sinclair himself was not affiliated with any church.

As Sinclair was dying of a heart condition, the church community prayed for him. After he died, High Point responded by sending a member to visit and minister to the family.

The Church also agreed to provide a large memorial service complete with a meal and a multimedia presentation in honor of the late Mr. Sinclair. However, when the church ministry saw some of the photos beforehand, they were shocked to find that they explicitly portrayed Sinclair as being in a homosexual relationship.

Upon discovering that Sinclair had been an active homosexual, the church realized that a funeral in which these pictures were displayed would be a public statement in support of the homosexual lifestyle. Basing its decision on these moral grounds, the church decided that it could not go ahead with the service.

"Some of those photos had very strong homosexual images of kissing and hugging," said Pastor Gary Simons. "My ministry associates were taken aback."

During his Sunday sermon, Simons firmly explained his rejection of the homosexual man's funeral amidst the applause of the church community. He said that the family "requested an open-microphone format to allow anyone in attendance to speak." In addition, the service would be presided over by someone who was not a member at High Point Church. "It appeared to the church staff that the family was requesting an openly homosexual service at High Point Church, which is not our policy to allow," he said. In addition, an openly gay choir, the Turtle Creek Chorale, was also set to perform at the service.

Sinclair's mother Ms. Bowers was upset by the decision, saying that a compromise could have been reached that might have enabled the memorial service to proceed. Nevertheless, Pastor Simons asked, "Can you hold the event and condone the sin and compromise our principles?" he said. "We can't."

Causing outrage among Sinclair's friends and family as well as many homosexual activists, Simons stated that he did not object to having a funeral for a homosexual man. Rather, he objected to the blatant condoning of the man's homosexual lifestyle. He made the analogy that while the church would not object to having a funeral service for a murderer whose mother was a member of the parish, the church could not allow photos of his crimes to be nostalgically displayed during the service.

In spite of High Point's moral objections to the Sinclair's lifestyle, the church made every effort to show the family that it was loved and cared for. They offered to pay for the service at another facility, and when the family refused, they sent food and representatives to the funeral.

Read former Dallas Morning News coverage: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/s...