Anglican Priest Denounced for Telling Gays the Bible Is Just 'Silly Words'
An Anglican priest on the Caribbean island of Barbados has been strongly condemned for giving his public support and encouragement to the LGBT community and attacking the Bible in the process.
At a gay pride parade last week, Father Clifford Hall told marchers that nothing can stop their movement, "...legions of Pharisees won't stop it... the roaring lion won't stop it. And some silly words written in a book thousands of years ago won't stop it."
His words were met by loud applause from parade attendees. Hall also told them they were accepted into the "flock of Christ" and that God is willing to give them the Kingdom.
He also claimed that homosexuality has "always been part of the natural order of things."
In a separate opinion piece for the Barbados Daily Nation, entitled "Time to Live free from Shame," Hall encouraged the local LGBT group to "assert yourselves unapologetically. Write your letters...hold public Christian services...don't be afraid. There are those who will support you – in the name of Jesus."
"I denounce him in the name of Jesus," responded another local pastor, the Reverend Vincent Wood during his Sunday sermon at Emmanuel Baptist Church. "(Hall) has no authority to call God's infallible, inherent word 'silly,' " Wood said.
Rev. Wood, a former vice president of the Baptist World Alliance and former president of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, told the NATION newspaper that Anglican leaders should condemn Hall's words.
