Straight Christians Stand Up for GLBT Community

According to prweb.com:

“Gay and transgender Americans are our neighbors” will be the simple message of faith leaders across the nation during the week of September 14-20, 2008.

These religious leaders are part of Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights 2008, a week that will spotlight fair-minded straight people around the country. In 2007, the project’s inaugural year, nighttime vigils lit up 36 American cities in 25 states over seven days.

This year, churches in cities as diverse as Brooklyn, N.Y., Superior, Wis., Danville, Ind., Modesto, Calif., Denver, Colo., and Portland, Ore., will sponsor Seven Straight Nights events.

Leading the clergy is Jay Bakker, pastor of Revolution NYC Church and star of the documentary series One Punk Under God.

“As Christians, if we follow the example of Christ in loving our neighbor as ourselves, then we have to realize that everyone is our neighbor, everyone deserves to be treated with love and respect and grace,” says Bakker.

Jay Bakker is the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner. His non-traditional approach to ministry achieved national attention in the Sundance Channel documentary One Punk Under God, which documented his journey to become a gay-affirming Christian.

Jay Bakker to be Honored Guest at Raliegh Gay Pride

St. John’s Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Raleigh, a church for all people founded on the “whosoever” principal in 1976, announced yesterday that Jay Bakker; son of PTL’s Jim Bakker and the late Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, star of Sundance Channel’s “One Punk Under God” and founder of Revolution Church, will be participating in NC Pride activities September 26 -28, in both Durham and Raleigh.

Bakker will be participating in the Pride festival and parade at Duke University’s East Campus in Durham, NC, Saturday, September 27. He will then be the honored guest at an open-to-the-public reception held at The View, part of the Legends Night Club complex located on the corner of Hargett and Harrington streets in Raleigh, NC, Saturday evening from 6-7 p.m. Bakker will finish out the weekend by preaching St. John’s MCC Sunday Services, September 28. The 11 a.m. service will be held in Broughton High School’s Auditorium located at the corner of Peace and St. Mary’s Streets in Raleigh, N.C. The 7 p.m. service will be held in St. John’s MCC’s sanctuary located at 805 Glenwood avenue in Raleigh.

“Having grown up in Charlotte, I was excited to receive the invitation to participate in the Pride activities of my home state,” says Bakker. “Although I have worked in cooperation with MCCs across the country sharing the Gospel of grace, this is the first opportunity I have had to work with the people at St. John’s MCC.”

Read more at gaynewsbits.com.