Home Christian News Jacksonville Church Holds Open Forum Following Criticism Over Stance on Gender, Sexuality,...

Jacksonville Church Holds Open Forum Following Criticism Over Stance on Gender, Sexuality, Marriage

Lambert went on to reference “gender affirming care” for minors, transgender athletes, and bathroom accommodations for transgender people as part of such an “extremist agenda,” nevertheless expressing that he does not view people who advocate for such policies with hatred or personal animosity. 

“They are precious children of God,” Lambert said. “To anyone watching this who disagrees with the biblical message on sexuality, I want you to know that we love you, and God does too. It’s that love that drives us to share truth that may be hard for you to hear.” 

After the video was released, the venue contacted First Baptist Church to voice their frustration. 

“The venue made clear that they would never have done business with us if they knew what we were going to do,” Lambert wrote of the exchange. “Likewise, we would never have rented the facility if we knew how upset they would be. It was all very regrettable.”

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Following the exchange, the venue published a post in Instagram “that was much less kind than their private communication. That post has received a lot of attention.”

In that post, the venue accused First Baptist Church of either being “flagrant morons who clearly did not do their homework on where they are choosing to promote their hateful message” or otherwise intentionally manipulating the venue in an “attempt to pull legitimacy into their message.”

Addressing the venue, Lambert wrote, “Of course, we disagree on issues of sexuality. We think the lifestyle represented by LGBTQ+ is at odds with God’s truth, is unloving, and is unhelpful. If your rigid fundamentalism leads you to believe that the absence of agreement means the absence of love, then that really is too bad for you.”

As controversy continued to swell, the church announced it would hold an “open mic night” on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 29, so that members of the community could come and have their concerns heard. 

“First Baptist Church desires to love our neighbors in the city and we want to hear from those who are upset, address concerns, and answer questions,” Lambert said in the announcement, which indicated that the “event is an open forum, and all are invited.”

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Before Lambert opened the floor for discussion at the event, he provided some clarifying remarks.