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| Rev. Dr. Christine Wiley and her husband, Rev. Dennis Wiley, are co-pastors at Covenant Baptist Church, one of a few houses of worship in Washington, D.C., with a predominantly African-American congregation that welcomes and affirms gays and lesbians. Between Sunday services on July 24, they shared breakfast at the church. (Photo by Adam Cuthbert) |
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Covenant Baptist Church
Revs. Dennis & Christine Wiley
3845 S. Capitol St., SW
202-562-5576
Faith Temple
A team of pastors presides
Convenes at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Chapel
1313 New York Ave., NW
202-232-4911
Freedom Fellowship Christian Church
Rev. Kevin D. Brown
400 H St., NE
202-544-7988
www.ffccdc.org
Greater Hope Christian Church International
Rev. Dr. Paulette M.E. Stevens
1722 N. Capitol St., NW
202-257-5383
www.greaterhopechristianchurch.org
Inner Light Ministries
Bishop Kwabena “Rainey” Cheeks
Meets at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
1525 Newton St., NW
202-332-7750
Unity of Washington D.C.
Rev. Sylvia Sumter
700 A St., NE
202-543-1414
www.unitywdc.org
Unity Fellowship Church, Washington D.C.
Rev. Abena McCray
Luther Place Memorial Church
1226 Vermont Ave., NW
202-232-1073
www.unityfellowshipchurch.com
Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore
Rev. Harris Thomas
114 W. Read St., Baltimore
410-244-0884
www.ufcb.org
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HOME > LOCAL LIFE > COVER
By: KATHERINE VOLIN COMMENTS
 
continued...
cannot be supported.”
Local black gay activists as well as former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, gay D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R-At-Large) criticized Wilson for the sermon. The activists had been trying unsuccessfully to work with march organizers to be included in the Millions More Movement. They are now considering a boycott of the event.
In addition to Covenant Baptist, several other local churches with predominantly black congregations welcome gay worshipers.
“When we look at the theology of Jesus, it was about inclusion, not exclusion,” said Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks, the gay founder of Inner Light Ministries, which he said has about 50 members, most of whom are gay. “In the Christian church, we have many different denominations and many different views, from the fundamental to the very liberal.”
Cheeks is co-founder of Us Helping Us: People Into Living Inc., an HIV/AIDS organization founded here in 1985 to support black gay and bisexual men.
Rev. Dyan McCray, the lesbian pastor of Unity Fellowship Church in Northwest D.C., also said she does not condemn from the pulpit. She said the church has 200 members, and most there also are gay.
“When you stand up in a pulpit on Sunday morning, people that come, come to be fed,” said McCray, who also is a board member for the Mautner Project, a national lesbian health organization. “They don’t come to listen to hatred or to be hurt.”
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