uganda – Page 58 – Warren Throckmorton

Willow Creek Association: A really big tent

Researching the relationship between Canyon Ridge Christian Church and the Willow Creek Association, I corresponded briefly with WCA’s Executive Vice President, Steve Bell. I reported the initial statement provided by Mr. Bell regarding their relationship with Canyon Ridge in Salon on July 2:

The 10,000 churches that belong to Willow Creek Association are aligned by their mutual agreement with a statement of faith that reflects a historic, orthodox understanding of biblical Christianity. WCA membership does not imply that the WCA supports or agrees with a church’s position on social or political issues. Willow Creek Association’s goal is not to interfere in the political processes of other nations. Rather, its sole mission is to provide resources and training to church leaders around the world that will assist them as they minister to people in their communities and help them find a deeper understanding of God.

I followed up with questions regarding their stance on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and the participation of Canyon Ridge in the upcoming Global Leadership Summit. Mr. Bell wrote back quickly to clarify WCA’s positions.

WCA membership does not imply that we support the social or political positions of our member churches. We align with them theologically and we take that very seriously. But we don’t try to judge or interfere with their social and/or political positions (example: Episcopal churches). And we don’t take outright stands on political issues within countries. Our goal is to influence and support faith-based communities, not governments.

To be specific and clear, Canyon Ridge will be a host site church for the Global Leadership Summit in August. However, that does not mean the WCA supports their position vis-à-vis Martin Ssempa, anymore than our relationship with Episcopal churches implies our advocacy for homosexual pastors.

I take from this response that some churches in WCA support the ordination of gay clergy. To be a member in the WCA, one must pay a fee and agree to their statement of faith.

One may locate a WCA church from their website. Seekers are greeted with this disclaimer:

While we do not oversee the ministry expressions of individual churches, WCA Membership is intended solely for churches that hold an orthodox understanding of biblical Christianity. All WCA Member Churches have affirmed the central doctrines of the Bible reflected in the WCA Statement of Faith and also presented in the historic creeds of the Christian faith. WCA Membership is open to churches of any size or denomination that are marked by a deep commitment to furthering the cause of Christ.

It appears that WCA does not make stances on cultural issues a condition of membership. They seem to want to be a big tent where many different perspectives are included. From the sound of Mr. Bell’s response, gay affirming or non-gay affirming churches may join. On this point, I am curious to know how any WCA gay affirming churches would regard Canyon Ridge’s support for Martin Ssempa. On the other hand, I wonder how other non-affirming churches regard the inclusion of Episcopal churches who affirm gay ordination.

Can a tent be too big?

I am conflicted a bit on this. I am generally a big tent person. I like to fellowship with believers of various opinions and perspectives where the focus is on the core elements of the faith. However, I do think that some issues cry out for leadership and I think the Anti-Homosexuality Bill is one of those issues. I do not believe that the bigtentness of the WCA should prevent them from expressing a critical view of the bill or of those who support it.

The WCA’s position statement regarding stands on social issues has not stopped Willow Creek Community Church pastor, Bill Hybels, from taking a stand on immigration. Pastor Hybels recently introduced President Obama’s speech on immigration at American University (video on his favorably remarks). His wife, Lynne, offered support for immigration reform on behalf of herself and Rev. Hybels before the Senate Judiaciary Committee back in October, 2009.

I suspect WCA does not monitor member churches on immigration reform, but I do wonder what they would say if one of their churches supported doing violence to undocumented people.

Those in leadership with the WCA have evaluated the work of Martin Ssempa on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and come to a different conclusion than member church Canyon Ridge. However, I do not think it would do harm to their big tent if they went a step further and made explicit their concerns about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren started where WCA is now but soon determined that a clear condemnation was needed. Will Willow Creek do the same?

Nevada Public Radio covers Canyon Ridge – Uganda connection

At 9:30 am pacific time (12:30pm here), a segment will air on KNPR, Las Vegas regarding the relationship between Canyon Ridge Christian Church and Martin Ssempa. The guest on the show is Derek Washington, President of the Stonewall Democrats of Southern Nevada. A hint of the content is here:

We talk with Democratic activist Derek Washington who thinks the Canyon Ridge congregation is unaware of the extreme positions taken by its missionary partner.

My guess is that Derek Washington is correct that the CRCC congregation is largely unaware of the issues involved. The local media there has for some reason not covered this local connection to an ongoing international news story persisting for about 10 months.

UPDATE: In addition to Derek Washington, the show featured a member of Canyon Ridge, Tyler Egeland who said the membership probably does not know much about the controversy. He also said that Ssempa has close ties to Southern Nevada (I believe his wife’s parents live in Las Vegas) and the church feels a close relationship to Ssempa. Egeland also said that the church’s brand of Christianity is at odds with how Ssempa is conducting his work in Uganda.

Derek Washington believes that the church has been hoodwinked. Washington believes that the people of Canyon Ridge are great people but that they have believed Ssempa’s attestations of good intentions but the leadership. Money is giving to church and then given to someone who advocates death and prison for gays.

Tyler Egeland agrees with Washington that Ssempa needs to apologize and turn away from his prior views.

According to the host of the show, the pastors at CRCC said they would be happy to participate and then backed out.

According to someone on the broadcast, Pastor Odor did mention this issue to the church. I would like to know what he said.

Derek Washington does not want people to leave Canyon Ridge but he wants Canyon Ridge to break ties to Ssempa.

Watch for the audio at the website and give the segment a listen. It is an intriguing show. On balance, I would say that the callers and the ministers of CRCC still do not understand the role that Martin Ssempa has played in this bill. They portray Ssempa as having a change of heart. If he has, he has never said so. He acquiesced to a change from the death penalty to 20 years in rehab for aggravated homosexuality but there is no documentation of any change in views on life in prison for consensual acts. He defended the death penalty to me in emails and on video on his Facebook page. He showed extreme porn about what “homosexuals do in private” when he must know that most homosexuals do not do such things in private.

One other observation. Tyler Egeland said that Canyon Ridge has denounced Ssempa’s extreme rhetoric, but I can find no indication of that. None of the emails I have from the staff indicate they have condemned the porn shows or any of his rhetoric.

UPDATE: As commenter andy pointed out, guest on this show Derek Washington attributed a murder in Uganda to anti-gay rhetoric. This story has turned out to be questionable and at least part of it was a false report. In any event, the murder is under investigation and cannot be attributed to Rev. Ssempa or any specific antigay faction.

NPR reports on Canyon Ridge Christian Church and Martin Ssempa

Barbara Bradley Hagerty reported today on the ties between Canyon Ridge Christian Church and Martin Ssempa. The audio will be up at 7:00 pm but the transcript and a bit more is up now on their website.

Hagerty provides the facts: Canyon Ridge has supported Ssempa since 2007 and Ssempa has become the face of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. She also has interviews with Change.org’s Michael Jones, Canyon Ridge pastor Kevin Odor and me. The interview with Rev. Odor is important for those following this story. Here are excerpts:

Ssempa’s turnaround satisfied Pastor Odor, and he sees no reason to condemn the minister. Nor does he think he should denounce the Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

“Why do we, as a church in America, need to say something about a bill in Uganda?” he asks.

The turnaround referred to is what seems to be a shift in Ssempa’s thinking about the penalties for aggravated homosexuality — from death to 20 years in a rehab facility. Odor continues to say that his church has compassion for gays.

Pastor Odor says his church has “a heart” for homosexuals. He notes that Canyon Ridge participates every year in a march for people with AIDS, and for the past two years the church opened its campus for HIV Testing Day.

“We love everybody, including people with AIDS,” he says. “There are two things: How you got AIDS and that you have AIDS. That you have AIDS is a matter of compassion. The church should be compassionate for people with AIDS.”

I suspect they do experience a desire to reach out but what they miss is the incongruity of what they support in Uganda with what they express here. As I note in the NPR segment,

“If you preach compassion here, you have to support compassion elsewhere.”

Odor says that his church is being crucified for simply wanting to help people with AIDS.

I am interested in reader reaction to that claim.

Go read the segment; Audio is below. If the player doesn’t load, click here.

February 1 – Canyon Ridge Christian Church issues statement on support for Martin Ssempa

June 10 – Canyon Ridge Christian Church in conversation with Martin Ssempa

June 20 – Canyon Ridge Christian Church hosts National HIV Testing Day

June 23 – Southern Nevada Health District to evaluate relationship with Canyon Ridge Christian Church

July 1 – Las Vegas newspaper covers Canyon Ridge controversy

July 2 – Salon article: Canyon Ridge, Willow Creek Association and Martin Ssempa

Also see this article on Salon.com:

Church loses partnership over “kill the gay” bill

Kampala bombing reveals another kind of US – Uganda connection

For months, I have been writing about the US connections to anti-gay activities in Uganda. Most recently, I noted the ongoing relationship between Canyon Ridge Christian Church and Martin Ssempa. Yesterday, Salon published my article detailing the split between Canyon Ridge and Southern Nevada Health District.

But there are other Christian influences in Uganda. The recent tragic terrorist bombing of two locations in Kampala reveals other stories of altruism and Christian mission.

A Pennsylvania connection was detailed in a Sunbury Daily Item article about a Selinsgrove church group who traveled to Kampala for mission work. Five of their people were injured in the blast who were there working in Kampala’s slums.

For days, members of a Selinsgrove-organized missions team had poured out their hearts by praying, working and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those in the slums of the capital city of Uganda, Africa.

When they took a break at an Ethiopian restaurant on Sunday to catch the World Cup final, six of those team members, all with ties to the Valley, sacrificed even more for the cause when a terrorist bomb exploded, seriously injuring five of them.

A Delaware man, Nate Henn, lost his life in one of the blasts. He had dedicated his young life to rescuing the Invisible Children, orphans of the bloody war in Northern Uganda.

A former college rugby player who toured U.S. colleges and churches urging people to help children in war-riven Uganda was among 74 killed by explosions that tore through crowds watching the World Cup final in the African country.

Nate Henn was on a rugby field Sunday in Kampala with some of the children he’d gone to help when he was hit by shrapnel from one of the blasts, according to the aid group he worked for. A Uganda native Henn mentored had traveled back to the country with him and was standing next to him, but 20-year-old Innocent Opwonya wasn’t harmed.

These men and women were not in Kampala to fight the culture war. They were not there as was Scott Lively in March, 2009 to deliver a “nuclear bomb” in that war. Marching to a different drum, they were there to reflect their essence of their faith. These Christians were there to fight a different kind of battle with results that may not be seen for years.

God bless them.

Southern Nevada Health District severs ties with Canyon Ridge Christian Church

Short on time, but thought this was important to post. Southern Nevada Health District severed ties with Canyon Ridge Christian Church over their support for Martin Ssempa. Here is the letter:

July 9, 2010

Pastor Kevin Odor

6200 W. Lone Mountain Road

Las Vegas, NV 89130

Dear Pastor Odor:

It has been brought to the attention of the Southern Nevada Health District that Canyon Ridge Christian Church has an ongoing partnership with Pastor Martin Ssempa, the controversial Ugandan pastor. Pastor Ssempa’s support of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would criminally penalize homosexuals, is in direct conflict with the overarching public health goals of the health district. It is with regret that I feel compelled to dissolve the health district’s relationship with your church as long as you continue this partnership.

One of the central tenets of public health is to provide services without judgment. We also apply this principle in working with our various partners. However, we are profoundly concerned about your partnership with Pastor Ssempa as it contradicts this central tenet in that it amounts to tacit approval of activities that violate the basic human rights that should be afforded to all Ugandans.

It is my understanding that your church has been a valuable partner and it is unfortunate that we will be unable to continue to work together as community partners. Please be assured our staff will be available to offer testing when requested by one of the independent groups that use your facility for meetings, such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous.

In closing, I would urge you and your congregation to revisit your continued support of Pastor Ssempa. I believe both of our mission’s will be better accomplished through the support of programs and activities that promote tolerance and acceptance.

I would be happy to discuss our decision with you further if you have additional questions.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Sands, DO, MPH

Chief Health Officer