Pastors Protest after Bible College Invites Lesbian Bishop to Speak

The American Baptist College in Tennessee is facing criticism after the school invited a married lesbian bishop to participate in a lecture series.

According to Christian Today, the college in Nashville invited Bishop Yvette Flunder to the school to speak about her work with HIV/Aids. In response, the National Baptist Fellowship of Concerned Pastors has started an online petition to rescind the invitation.

"We believe that President Forrest Harris should rescind the invitation for Bishop Yvette Flunder to speak at ABC, solely on the basis that she is a proud, practicing, and public advocate of same-sex marriage,” the petition says. “We are also requesting that in the future, no male or female involved in a same-sex marriage be invited to speak at ABC.”

The fellowship also released a statement to news media: "For a Baptist college president to invite a lesbian bishop legally married to a woman, to be a guest speaker and worship leader on a Baptist college campus is irresponsible, scandalous, non-biblical, and certainly displeasing to God."

Harris, however, said he would not rescind his invitation to Flunder.

"The college's tradition of civil rights advocacy and leadership demands that our students become critical thinkers by exposing them to credible scholarship, professors, religious and non-religious ideas and presentations that document the systematic denial of the legal, civil and human rights of persons and groups, particularly in the communities where our students are likely to be employed or choose to serve," he said.

Publication date: March 11, 2015