The pastor of the Calvary Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Sonora California sent us this letter which will interest our readers.
Dear Rev. DeJong,
As a member of the Presbytery of Northern California of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, I am writing to you as one concerned for the truth of God’s Word and the furtherance of His righteousness to inform you of an attack against the Church of Jesus Christ that will have national repercussions.
You may have already heard that First Orthodox Presbyterian Church of San Francisco has been sued by homosexuals under the provisions of a recently enacted municipal statute prohibiting discrimination based on “sexual orientation.” Briefly the facts are these. A young man had been hired last year as the church organist, and although he was not a member of the church, he professed to be a Christian. After a while it came to the attention of the pastor, the Rev. Charles Mcilhenny, that this man was a homosexual. Pastor Mcilhenny confronted the man with the charge, and the young man freely admitted that he was a practicing homosexual. Mr. Mcilhenny called upon the man to forsake his sin, but the call was refused. In that event the young man’s employment as an organist was terminated.
Shortly thereafter the church was contacted by a lawyer and founder/director of Gay Rights Advocates (a legal organization dedicated to furthering homosexual “rights” through litigation), threatening a lawsuit under the new San Francisco ordinance. No action was taken by the homosexual plaintiff for 10 months, but at the end of June this year the suit was filed against Pastor Mcilhenny, the congregation, and. the Presbytery as co-defendants.
All three defendants have retained the same lawyer, Mr. John Whitehead, to prepare and lead our defense. Mr. Whitehead is a Christian and a Constitutional lawyer associated with the Christian Law Association. He presented our answer to the suit to the court on August 15th.
Like us you are undoubtedly shocked at the highhandedness of these rebellious men against God and his Church, daring to challenge the freedom of the Church to obey the clear requirements of Scripture, and attempting to force the Church to conform to the doctrines and commandments of men. Such are the days in which we live. Nevertheless we are determined to fight this attack with all our resources, calling upon the King of Kings to vindicate His cause before all men. The outcome of this litigation, as you can well realize, will have dramatic implications for all our Reformed and evangelical churches, and for our nation and the freedom we have so long enjoyed.
I write to give you this information so that you can enter into the battle with us by praying earnestly that god will utterly defeat this attack against his Church, and move our land back to that righteousness that “exalts a nation.” We also hope that you will be willing to make this information available to others through The Outlook, so that all who love God and his Word may oppose this godlessness with one voice.
Finally, the financial resources of our little church are limited, and already legal fees must be paid. A defense fund has been established under the trusteeship of a three-man commission of Presbytery (headed by Mr. Mcilhenny) to receive contributions toward the defense expenses. Checks can be made out to “The Christian Rights Defense Fund” and sent to First Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 1350 Lawton, St., San Francisco, CA 94122.
If you have questions or desire more information, please feel free to contact me, or perhaps better contact Mr. Mcilhenny directly (phone number 415-564-8180 or write the above address), and we will give you all the information we have. Thank you for your interest and prayerful help.
We are but a David tangling with an awesome political Goliath, and public sympathy is largely with Goliath. But he has challenged Jehovah our God, who will not be mocked. May the Lord rise up in victory and His word triumph!
Your servant for the King,
Roger Wagner, pastor