Evangelical Pastor Thrown Out for Being Pro-LGBT Starts An Inclusive Church

By Derek Welch --
31 Dec 2016 --

Pastor Phillip Adams believes the Gospel of Christ is meant for all people, regardless of sexuality.

An evangelical pastor has been ostracized from the evangelical community for his open fight for gay rights and full inclusion with the gay community. Evangelical Covenant Church, the denomination Adam Phillips’ Christ Church was associated with, withdrew funding for his pro-LGBT stance. Undaunted, the pastor has continued to build his community, with his own church that will accept people of all sexual orientations with the same respect and dignity.

Evangelical Pastor Thrown Out for Being Pro-LGBT Starts An Inclusive Church[/tweetthis]

One of the Evangelical Covenant Church's (ECC) youngest and most dynamic pastors, Adam Phillips was on his way to becoming a very popular and powerful figure in the evangelical movement. However, his relationship with ECC began to get shaky ever since he started advocating for equal treatment for LGBT people in evangelical churches. Christ Church is now associated with the mainline Protestant denomination, The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Phillips told Huffington Post “The experience will humble you ― you’ll likely lose friends and support, but it’s the worst best thing: your church and community will see a kind of transformation that is like a miracle. Inclusion is not our only ‘issue’ ― but it roots us in being a whole, healthy church for God’s glory and neighbor’s good.”

Evangelical Pastor Shunned For Welcoming LGBT People Has A New, Thriving Congregation https://t.co/3Fglf9VyFb
— Brett Simpson (@BrettJSimpson) December 11, 2016

Philips started the “Christ Church,” which calls itself a Church that tries to promote inclusiveness. Although Philips was kicked out of mainstream evangelism, Christ Church has steadily grown in the span of two years into a strong and vibrant community. Philips insists that Christ Church is still an evangelical church, and tries to include people from all walks of life.

Pastor Phillips admits that this journey is not easy as he lost a lot of friends and well-wishers due to differences in thought. However, he believes that it is in this that miracles come forth, and says that the kind of transformations his church has seen is overwhelming. He believes that Christ’s gospel had a message for all people and includes all creation and excluding some people simply because of their difference in orientation was to live a life contrary to the Christian faith.

Although the number of Pastors who support gay rights are very few, Pastor Phillips believes that pro- gay rights pastors must not lose their courage and stand firm in their resolve anyway.