Leadership Journal

When pastor Ray Pritchard decided to address the contentious issue of same-sex marriage, he didn't keep it a secret. Through a direct mail campaign, Pritchard's church, Calvary Memorial in Oak Park, Illinois, publicized the sermon topic for its morning services and announced that Stephen Bennett, a former homosexual, would speak at the evening service.

How the controversial topic was handled, or mishandled, would have a lasting impact on the church's standing in the community.

Oak Park has a large gay population and prides itself on its "open and affirming" attitudes. The village president is a lesbian, and several members of the school board are openly gay. Into this setting, with same-sex marriage on the national agenda and tensions rising because of it, Pritchard felt compelled to bring a biblical perspective to the ongoing public debate.

In addition to the 40,000-piece mailing, the church advertised in local newspapers and on the web and posted a giant banner over the building's entrance reading "God Speaks Today." And the community took notice.

"We were informed a week in advance that there would be protesters at our services," Pritchard said. "The Sunday beforehand, I informed the congregation, asked them to pray, told them that their church needed them to be present, and I encouraged them to reach out and welcome anyone and everyone who might be a visitor.

"But," as Pritchard noted, "in 26 years of being a pastor, I can't recall a Sunday where the emotional pressure seemed as great."

That Sunday in September began peacefully, but soon it escalated into a media event unprecedented in the church's 90-year history.

This moment-by-moment account of that turbulent day is a compilation of the excerpts from Pritchard's online weblog (www.calvarymemorial.com), two newspapers (the Chicago Tribune and Oak Park Oak Leaves), and the Chicago ABC-TV affiliate (WLS-TV). We also interviewed WLS radio reporter Cisco Cotto, a member of Calvary Memorial Church and eyewitness to the protests both inside and outside the church.

Pritchard's blog, posted Sept 22:
This Sunday I'm preaching on "The Truth About Same-Sex Marriage." The Oak Park Lesbian and Gay Association (OPLGA) got wind of the sermon (it wasn't a secret—we mailed 40,000 postcards to every home and business in Oak Park), and decided they would stage a "silent protest" this Sunday morning.

"We want to make sure the Oak Park community, which has protected us as a class and equalized us, bears witness to someone saying we are sick and immoral," Ethel Cotovsky [co-chairman of OPLGA] said, "That's all we ask for. We don't know what he's going to say." (Oak Leaves)

But if they don't know what I'm going to say, how do they know I'm going to say they are sick and immoral?

Oak Park has a large homosexual population, so you've got to invite people in. Calvary really publicized this sermon series. And they did that on purpose. They wanted people to show up. Calvary said, "We are preaching ...