Another line the church edited was, “I help to raise hundreds of children. I get to see them growing up,” which was changed to “I introduce hundreds of children to Jesus as they’re growing up.”
Pastor Roman Gutierrez told The Door McAllen congregation on Sunday that they witnessed over 30 salvations between the two nights of the play. “That is really why we do these plays,” he said.
In addition to altered scenes in which Hamilton’s wife pleads with her husband to accept Christ as his personal Savior and another character leads Hamilton to Jesus, The Door McAllen’s associate pastor Victor Lopez’s post-production message didn’t sit well with “Hamilton” fans.
A clip of Lopez’s gospel message, which has over 303,000 views, has been label has homophobic, because he mentioned people who may struggle with homosexuality.
“You have a destined time with God right now,” Lopez told the audience. “He is knocking at the doors of your heart right now. He wants to help you tonight. He knows exactly what you’ve gone through. Maybe broken marriages. Maybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs, homosexuality, maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever, relationships. God can help you tonight.”
Gutierrez told The Dallas Morning News that the church isn’t anti-LGBTQ and clarified that everyone is welcome at their church.
A “Hamilton” spokesperson shared with CNN on Monday that they weren’t aware “of the extensive changes to the show or that there would be a sermon at the end” when they agreed to allow the church to perform their production.
According to the spokesperson’s statement, the musical may pursue legal action against the church.
“We have reserved all of our rights and are considering how to proceed based upon what we’ve learned. The Hamilton family stands for tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and certainly LGBTQ+ rights,” the statement said. “We are in the process of reviewing the unauthorized changes made to the script to determine further action.”
Churches have an exemption to copyright laws that allows them to perform music during worship services, but that exemption does not allow them to stream or distribute the performances.
