Arlington, TX

Reverend Gary Simons read this statement Sunday to his congregation at High Point Church in Arlington:

“High Point Church regrets the unfortunate situation regarding the memorial service for Mr. Cecil Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair was not a member of High Point Church, neither was anyone in his family, except for Lee Sinclair, who is employed by the church. Lee requested for the church to pray for his brother when he became ill. The church prayed for Mr. Sinclair both enthusiastically and faithfully. Lee called one of our ministers to inform him that his brother was in the hospital in critical condition.

“When the High Point minister arrived at the hospital, Mr. Sinclair had already passed. The church minister reached out to the family and tried to comfort them the best that he could. The church did offer the family, free of charge, the use of this facility for the memorial service. It was not disclosed at this time that the deceased was homosexual or that the family desired an openly homosexual memorial service.

“The family requested that the church produce a video of Mr. Sinclair’s life for the memorial service. When the photos were presented to the church, there were some inappropriate images that alerted the church to the homosexuality of Mr. Sinclair. The family requested an associate of the Turtle Creek Chorale, an openly homosexual choir, to officiate the service and for the choir to sing. They also requested an open microphone format to allow anyone in attendance to speak. High Point Church ministers would not be allowed to direct the service, or to have control over what was said or emphasized. It appeared to the church staff that the family was requesting an openly homosexual service at High Point Church, which is not our policy to allow.

“The decision was made to retract the offer to host the memorial service. It is important to emphasize that this was not a funeral service for a body to be buried, but only a memorial service. Both Lee and his sister Kathleen were informed of the decision. The decision had nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Sinclair was a veteran. High Point Church does now and has always supported our men and women in the military.

“This decision was not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy.

“We cannot glorify homosexually as a lifestyle. We cannot put inappropriate images on our screens or subject our members, and possibly even our children, to an openly homosexual service. We cannot condone what the word of God condemns.

“The issue is not whether we hold a memorial service in a lifestyle of sin. We’ve assisted many families in this regard. The issue is whether we would allow an openly homosexual memorial service in our church. We love the homosexual, but cannot condone the homosexual lifestyle. We could not allow homosexuality to be glorified in this house of worship.

“To assist the family in securing another location, an offer was made to pay for alternative venue, which the family declined. We produced for the family a memorial video they requested without the inappropriate photos. We also prepared and delivered food for the family and 100 relatives and friends. Our love for the family was demonstrated over and again in our many acts of kindness and concern. Many of our faithful members spent hours cooking and preparing the meals and our staff worked diligently to meet the needs of the family.

“Many of our staff members went to the memorial service in support of the family. The memorial service located at Moore Funeral Home did confirm our concerns, as the tone was openly homosexual.

“The church believes that the right decision has been made and holds firm to its convictions concerning homosexuality.

“It’s our desire to always demonstrate the love of Christ to all people in both word and deed. We would hope that the Sinclair family and the homosexual community would see our love for them through the many acts of kindness and outreach that we have extended to them. We realize that they might not agree with our convictions, but we hope that they would respect them.

“We do love and pray for the Sinclair family, and ask God’s strength and comfort to be with them during this difficult time.”

The family says that it should have been obvious to church staff immediately that Sinclair was gay. They say that Paul Wagner, 38, was introduced to a High Point audio-visual minister, who visited the hospital on Monday night, as Sinclair’s partner. They say the choice of the Turtle Creek Chorale, a well-known, openly gay organization, should have also made it obvious. Wagner, who is a 16 year Army veteran, says:

“I have fought for their right to hate me. My only problem is how they used all those excuses before canceling the offer. If they had been upfront, we’d have been ticked, but we would have moved on.”

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Arlington, Arlington TX, High Point Church, Gay man’s funeral, Cecil Sinclair, Paul Wagner, Gary Simons, Church Statement, Turtle Creek Chorale