A pastor who campaigns against homosexuality has condemned Ely Cathedral for flying the pride flag calling it an “appalling example of the Church of England jumping on a fashionable secular bandwagon.”
Pastor Peter Simpson, who is minister of The Penn Free Methodist Church, near High Wycombe, says he heard about Ely Pride from friends in the Ely area.
Feeling strongly about the display of the rainbow flag – which is often referred to as a symbol of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community – Pastor Simpson sent an almost 500-word email to the Ely Standard.
The Pride flag will be flown from the tower of Ely Cathedral this afternoon (Friday August 10) to promote the festival taking place tomorrow.
Pastor Simpson also said he finds it “distressing” that the emergency services and the RAF all “see fit to lend their support to the public trashing of God’s commandments at Ely’s Pride Festival.”
However, the Dean of Ely pledged his support for the community event earlier this week, saying it “celebrates the breadth and diversity of the community in which we all live.”
The Very Reverend Mark Bonney, said: “I am pleased first of all to lend my backing to this community event because it celebrates the breadth and diversity of the community in which we all live.
“I am also very conscious that Christians have not always been perceived as being very supportive and inclusive as some of us would wish, and so I am pleased to fly this flag as a sign of the kind of inclusion that I wish to promote at the Cathedral.”
Fritha Love, one of the organisers of the event, said she was “completely overwhelmed” by the decision, saying it reflected Ely’s spirit of acceptance.”
When contacted by the paper, Pastor Simpson maintained his stance on the subject, saying: “I think of Ely Cathedral as one of the most beautiful in all of England and this adds to the sense of shock of what is happening there tomorrow.
“I feel that this is a national issue and the fact this is being supported makes me want to speak out about it.”
The controversial Pastor - who has preached against homosexuality at London Pride for several years - said God’s word “unequivocally declares the sinfulness of homosexuality.”
In his email he writes: “I am shocked to hear of the support being given by Ely Cathedral to Ely’s Pride festival.
“This is an appalling example of the Church of England jumping on a fashionable secular bandwagon.
“The Dean of Ely states that flying the rainbow flag from the cathedral celebrates the breadth and diversity of the community in which we all live.
“One cannot help but remark that the definition of diversity does not seem to include the views of those who believe the Christian scriptures.
“The Bible, God’s word, unequivocally declares the sinfulness of homosexuality in, for example, Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:22-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10 and Jude v7.
“Furthermore, homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, not an innate genetic condition. This is proven by observing identical twins, who share the same genetic make-up. Where one twin is homosexual, it is frequently the case that the other is not (The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology No. 78, March 2000, p526, p533).
“The Pride in Ely Facebook page states that there is ‘so much fun for all the family to enjoy’.
“Both parents and the young need to understand, however, the anti-Christian and God-rejecting nature of LGBT activism. This is especially seen in the contents of the Gay Liberation Front manifesto of 1971, which is very much a founding document for the gay rights movement as a whole.
“Indeed, it was actually re-issued with the support of Pride London in 2011.
“This document makes no apology for attacking Christianity and the centrality of the traditional family unit as the building block of society. It includes the following statement:
“Christianity(‘s) archaic and irrational teachings support the family and marriage as the only permitted condition for sex.
“We, along with the women’s movement, must fight for the abolition of the family? We are not in fact being idealistic to aim at abolishing the family and the cultural distinctions between men and women”.
“So at the heart of the gay rights movement is a rejection of the Christian faith, the God-ordained family unit and gender distinctions.
“This movement is accordingly an attack upon God’s providence, who in His wisdom made us male and female, with the different but complementary qualities that combine in the one flesh union of biblical marriage.
“It is also distressing that the Police, Fire Brigade, Ambulance Service and the RAF all see fit to lend their support to the public trashing of God’s commandments at Ely’s Pride Festival.
“One must also add in conclusion that the Christian call to homosexual people to repent of sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is made out of a genuine love and concern for them.”
Organisers behind Ely Pride have been contacted for a comment in response to Pastor Simpson’s email.
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