“There is no implication here that everyone is called to agree to this decision,” Peery said. “We’re going to strive to learn how to live together.”
“You’re in a lot of trouble if you go out on a limb and do that without the support of your congregation,” said Kraft, of Holy Trinity Lutheran. “That’s suicidal, so there’s no point in doing that.”
Christ Church, an Episcopal congregation on Providence Road, spent months deliberating before Pastor Chip Edens told his 5,500-member congregation the church had e-sex weddings at their discretion for church members, effective immediately.
A church committee first recommended that they adopt a pro-same-sex marriage stance last October. In January, the church held a series of five workshops and brought in experts such as a psychology professor from UNC Charlotte to talk about gender identity, and a Duke divinity professor about how sexuality appears in the New Testament.
First Presbyterian Church uptown is taking a similar approach and will make a decision in the next few months. Pastor Pen Peery (who also happens to be Pete Peery’s son) said he’s tried to stress that as emotional as this issue can be, it’s not the most important one for a faith community.
“What’s more important than that is our identity in Christ,” he said. “Who we belong to is more important than what we believe about a particular issue.”
Carmel Baptist Church and Mecklenburg Community Church have both preached sermons stating that homosexuality is a sin in the past year
Park Road Baptist Church went through the process earlier than most. Sixty-five years ago, the church was born as part of the Southern Baptist Convention, but its founding pastor soon began to become more progressive in his theology. Park Road Baptist sponsored a gay men’s choir by the 1980s and eventually split from the Southern Baptist fold.
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The worldwide United Methodist Church is formally in opposition to same-sex erican pastors in a bit of a bind
Still, church leaders tread carefully when they were asked to consider hosting gay union ceremonies in the mid-2000s. In the largest church conference meeting in Park Road Baptist’s history, the congregation voted in to approve a policy expanding all the services of the church to gay members.
“I think this is an issue that you have to be patient with,” Pastor Russ Dean said. “People are in different places, and we have to give them time and be deliberate and intentional about our study.”
Still, the climate has grown even more unfriendly toward the LGBT community at many of Charlotte’s churches as the events of the past year have pushed the issue to the fore. Many of the largest churches in Charlotte are unapologetically opposed to same-sex unions.
The Catholic diocese of Charlotte – with several mega churches in the city – has been outspoken against gay marriage.
“We will not perform same-sex marriages at Carmel Baptist Church,” according to Pastor Alex Kennedy’s sermon notes. “We believe that marriage and sexuality was created by God and therefore can only be defined by Him…not the State.”
Nations Ford Community Church has put it explicitly on its website that same-sex couples are not welcome to dedicate their children in a church ceremony.
The price of civil disobedience on the issue can mean losing your position as senior pastor. At Myers Park United Methodist, that means the issue has been in a sort of limbo.
Senior Pastor James Howell said he has been thrust into a prominent role in the debate internationally, and very difficult conversations will be had before the next Methodist gathering in 2016.