Hooray, for GROWNUP Evangelicals!

Pastor Mark Tidd: A Grownup Evangelical.


I never thought I'd say this in a million years, but it appears there is actually a species of evangelical Christian that is GROWN-UP! As in mature, self-reflecting, not hostile, judgmental or reactionary to his fellow sentient beings! This alone gives me some hope for the human species as an aggregate, especially after the Terry Jones incident- when my estimation of humanity bottomed out.

The wake up call emerged while reading through Saturday's Denver Post, and finding a human interest story, 'A Break with Tradition' by Electa Draper. The article is an account of the evangelical Minister, the Reverend Mark Tidd and his Highlands Church outside Denver.

Last year it was doubtful whether Rev. Tidd's church would survive after nearly half his congregation (likely full of hate and judgment) walked out when the pastor declared that any gay, lesbian, biesexual or trans-gender person was welcome to participate in full church life, leadership and fellowship - without being hectored by judgmental rants and criticism.

The pastor led the way by chucking out all ill-considered and hateful "biblical" references (the pastor correctly calls them "unbiblical") to homosexuality, which would further divide his flock. Why single out some, to the exclusion of others, and besides, it is not up to us to JUDGE!
(To paraphrase the famed quote from Matthew: 'Judge not lest ye be judged, for as ye judge your Father shall judge you and judgment shall me rendered measure for measure').

Pastor Tidd's turnaround and new revelation came to him all of a sudden, and he says it was from God. Quoted in the piece:

"I'd see people suffering, and it caused me to question whether I absolutely understood what the Bible said about homosexuality. You can't suppress love and support for people. Goodness opens doors and possibilities for people, not closes them!

I just had a strong sense that this was something God wanted to go forward. It just felt like He had our back. My church extends the love of God to people who are treated like the last group of lepers on Earth"


Had his back and his church's indeed! As the article notes, his church membership is now nearly what it was before he broke from the ministry of his Christian Reform Church. People drive from dozens of miles away simply to be part of a church fellowship in which they aren't made to feel like putrid worms, or castigated every five minutes by some bombastic, deranged ape who doesn't know any better than calls for "judgment" (and btw, I had to think about that last sentence and decided I might well be insulting apes!)

In Tidd's congregation all hostile references in respect to sexual orientation are verboten. No one gets to dump on the vulnerable GLBT folk, who are now approaching a majority status. As for the people who have replenished his church - they aren't just members of the GLBT community but also many families. They prefer to feel a part of Pastor Tidd's inclusive family rather than remain part of some hateful enclave which passes judgments ever five seconds.

Pastor Tidd is also critical of other evangelical pastors who are hypocritical to the nth degree. According to Tidd:

"Most of these other so-called Christian pastors say they love and welcome gay people. What they really mean is that they love you in spite of the fact you're gay. After all they know they must love all sinners and broken people. What they don't say is that you can't be openly gay and be a church leader or have an affirmed marriage or relationship".

In Pastor Tidd's Highland Church, meanwhile, all GLBT folk that want are eligible to become deacons or other leaders, no questions asked.

Bravo to Pastor Tidd and his church, which shows that there is no god-ordained injunction that people must hate their fellow to have God in their lives. Any "god" like that isn't worth doggie lickspittle- certainly if he's disposed to sentence homosexuals, abortion providers, atheists or any others to some not too nice abode.

Again, it's nice to know not all evangelicals are terminally psychotic nut balls and raving Elmer Gantry maniacs. Some actually know and understand what tolerance means - which is to say, having compassion for others' genetic differences (since we know now that homosexuality arises from genetic factors - specific genes and isn't chosen) and realizing they themselves aren't omniscient and also aren't appointed to call down judgements on anyone but themselves. Tolerance doesn't mean treating all beliefs as "equal" but rather realizing we're all in an inferior condition of knowledge and brain development, and the best option in this case is to allow for diverse manifestations of the human potential - whether we necessarly agree with them or not. Philosopher Alan Watts put it nicely: "The ability to co-exist with what frightens us. Even if that wasps' nest is terrifying, we can get our emotions under control and learn to live along side it in peaceful co-existence without being seized by the need to apply a blow torch or powerful insecticide sprayer." Well put!