People Affirming Church

Ever since I did my now-famous sermon, God Loves Gays, I am frequently asked about my views on what kind of church Mercy Church is. I am asked by gays and straights alike, “So are you a gay-affirming church?” To be really honest, I don’t like that title because it’s so polarizing and exclusive sounding, at least to me it is. Almost like we only welcome gays in Mercy Church, or that gays are our primary target group. And that’s just not the case. 

Our church attempts to reach people far from God, and all types of people are far from God! Our church is very diverse. We have gays, straights, blacks, whites and Hispanics. We have rich and poor people. We have Republicans and Democrats. We have people who are single, married, divorced, young, old, moms, dads and college students. We have trendy people and those who are not so trendy. We have people with tattoos and piercings. We have lawyers, doctors and CEOs! We have sinner people at Mercy, all shapes and sizes, and I love it!

I call Mercy Church a People-Affirming Church with a God agenda! Plain and simple. That’s it! We feel compelled to love people right where they are while helping them grow to be whatever God wants them to be!

I can tell you one thing; it has taken me many years to free myself of the role as judge and jury over people. Wow, life is so much better when you don't have to try to be God to people, but simply be a person who points the way to God, and let people work out their own salvation. As I often say, there are going to be a lot more people in Heaven than most Christians think! And I will be glad I loved them here, because we will be together for a very long time ... like forever!