HARLINGEN — Kaya Candia–Almanda says no one can truly understand what it’s like to be a gay or lesbian person living in a conservative community unless they are one.
Sometimes, in passing, negative whispers, jokes and ridicule about identity and sexual orientation are murmured by acquaintances, family members and friends, Almanda said.
The 18-year-old, who says she is a lesbian, doesn’t let that bother her.
The Harlingen High School senior says what really bothers her is being told by fellow Christians that she is going to hell for what they say is the unforgivable sin of homosexuality.
She says she is more concerned about the comments she gets from congregations across the Rio Grande Valley than comments in the classroom or out on the streets.
But, Almanda says, she has found a place of belonging. That place is a church in Harlingen tucked away in the city with a small congregation.
Many gay Christians have never felt truly loved or accepted by congregations in the Valley, she said, until they arrive at the doorsteps of Mount Calvary Christian Church, a congregation run by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Mt. Calvary is headed by an openly gay pastor who preaches that homosexuality is not a sin, who seeks to bridge the gap between the orthodox view of homosexuality and the true love of God and the promise of salvation, Almanda said.
She said church members can rest assured they won’t be excluded, picked on or told that they are not worthy of God’s promise: eternal salvation.
“I’m a lesbian and I love Jesus and he loves me, too. He didn’t make a single mistake when he made me or any of us,” she said.
Mt. Calvary was established seven years ago and steadily has grown in numbers. It’s bursting at the seams, the Rev. Jonathan Powers said.
The church is located within a cozy plaza in the city, and on a good Sunday morning it seats about 50 popele, he said.
“We have people come from as far as McAllen and Edinburg,” he said. “Many are professionals, like teachers, and others are high school students.”
Powers said Mt. Calvary’s message is simple: “All are worthy, all are welcome.”
He said he wants other GLBT persons and their allies to know that Mt. Calvary isn’t trying to change anyone’s beliefs or debate theology. He said he simply wants to share God’s love with others.
“If you’re happy with the church you go to now, I encourage you to stay put. But if you’re not, come as you are and we will accept you and affirm you regardless of sexual orientation,” he said.
Powers said it’s difficult for GLBT persons to be fully accepted in the community. He said he has witnessed many GLBTs lose their jobs for simply being who they are.
“It’s sad and unfortunate that many of us have no support, not even from our own government,” Powers said.
But, he said, Mt. Calvary is trying to ease the woes of the outside world and create a place for inclusion, instead of exclusion.
Powers said he wants to be clear about homosexuality: According to the congregation’s belief, homosexuality is not a sin.
Powers said that the word homosexuality was added to the Bible in 1946, as a translation of the words “male prostitution,” which he believes is a sin.
“If (homosexuality) was the ultimate sin — the abomination that everyone speaks about, surely Jesus would have mentioned it. He didn’t,” Powers said.
He said 80 percent of the congregation identifies itself as GLBT. The rest are straight friends, parents and other family members of GLBT persons, like Almanda’s parents, who have started attending Mt. Calvary on a regular basis.
Her parents, a couple of the gay allies, said they enjoy attending a service where their daughter can be accepted for who she is.
“There have been times at other congregations where Kaya has had to leave a service because (pastors or priests) have spoken out against homosexuality,” said Cindy Candia, Almanda’s mother. “We’ve always encouraged her to keep looking until she finds a place she feels comfortable with.”
Candia said she frequently attends church services with her daughter, not just to show support, but because Mt. Calvary is a great church to visit.
Mt. Calvary “is not just for gays,” Almanda said. “I’ve been lucky to have such wonderful support from my parents — they never judged me and have always loved me, no matter what.”
Outreach
Despite its location in what Powers calls a conservative city, he said the church has not been picketed or ridiculed by the community.
Yet outreach is not exactly easy when many parishioners have decades of feeling unworthy of God’s love to wash away, said Joel Brotzman, who is active with the church’s outreach.
Brotzman, 36, who was brought up Pentecostal, said the church sometimes receives mixed reactions when doing outreach in McAllen during the monthly Artwalks.
“Sometimes we get cheers, and other times we get protested at our booth. It can be difficult sometimes, but we aren’t all that different from other congregations,” Brotzman said.
He said he knows the struggle of coming out as a gay man, and feeling like a sinner.
He said that is why he became active with Mt. Calvary’s outreach. He added that in the past three years, the tide has turned and there has been an explosion of support in the community that has not been seen before.
He said he hopes people can see that Mt. Calvary is not on the fringes of religion.
“Nothing about what we do is off the wall or out of the ordinary. We are a church just like many others,” Brotzman said. “We read scripture, have Sunday service and sing songs of worship to the same God as everybody else.”
Beliefs of other churches
The Rev. Peter Piñon, pastor of Abundant Life Assembly of God Church in Harlingen, and Monsignor Robert Maher, vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, said their churches accept everyone. However, homosexuality is a sin, they both said.
“We don’t make it (homosexuality) an issue,” Piñon said. “We believe that God is going to change their sin or any other sin. We’re not anti-gay, we are anti-sin.”
Maher said the Catholic Church’s belief is that being a homosexual is not a sin; the sin is acting out on those urges.
“God made a man’s body for a woman and a woman’s body for a man — for procreation,” he said.
Maher said gays and lesbians seeking a relationship with God are welcome at any Catholic church.
“Christ established the church for sinners,” he said. “We are all God’s children, seeking his love and salvation. (Homosexuals) should pray for the strength to renounce their sin. All sins, including homosexuality, are considered an abomination in God’s eyes.”
Piñon said he sympathizes with homosexuals who don’t feel at home in traditional congregations.
“I’m sorry (homosexuals) have to start their own church to feel accepted,” he said. “Unfortunately, homosexuals are always getting picked on. But they aren’t the only ones committing sin. We are all sinners in God’s eyes.
“If Christ were here today, he would accept them and preach to them without prejudice.”
Powers said he respects the views of other congregations, but said he believes views from the other side should be focused on non-believers of Christ.
“We respect the Catholic Church’s beliefs, and stand firmly that we are all one in Christ’s church. It’s no different than varying beliefs between denominations, such as Baptists and Lutherans,” Powers said. “The true other side to this issue are those who do not believe at all.
“Studies show that no matter how hard you try, you just cannot ‘pray the gay away.’ Homosexuality is about love, not sex, and to deny that love that’s been placed within us is to deny Christ’s very call to love one another. That’s something that we just won’t do.”
Accepting and growing
Every Wednesday night, Mt. Calvary has Bible study. The congregation is reading the book “Bullet Proof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay & Lesbian Christians.”
A group of about 20 peopele — teenagers and adults, including professionals, such as teachers and lawyers — usually gathers to read the book and discuss ways GLBT persons and their allies can affect positive change within themselves and grasp the reality that not everyone will accept them for who they are.
One night, group participants discussed situations that have hurt them spiritually and emotionally.
One teen, who said he was straight, said it hurts him to hear spiteful words from people who don’t care to understand and accept the GLBT community.
One woman said she was saddened when her father listened with a closed mind as she came out to him and told him about the church she had found.
Powers said being gay and out is an ongoing struggle.
Naysayers, who call his church ungodly and non-Christian, he said, should reflect and see that Mt. Calvary parishioners are simply loving God like everybody else, and finding their place in a world where God created all people for a specific purpose, be it gay or straight.
“A lot of people who come to this church and worship God still believe being gay is a sin — we’re here to say it’s not,” Powers said.
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