Contemporary Christian Music and Homosexuality
(Complete article by missionary preacher & author David Cloud is at title link.)
In The Gospel Sound, which first appeared in 1971, Anthony Heilbut said, “The gospel church has long been a refuge for gays and lesbians, some of whom grew up to be among the greatest singers and musicians.”
Douglas Harrison, a homosexual who grew up Southern Baptist, said, “... you can’t swing a Dove Award without hitting upon evidence of the longstanding, deep-set presence of queer experience in, and its influence on, Christian music culture at all levels” (“Come Out from among Them,” Religion Dispatches, April 30, 2010).
In 1998, CCM star Kirk Franklin said that “homosexuality ... is a problem today in gospel music--a MAJOR CONCERN--and everybody knows it” (Church Boy, pp. 49, 50).
James Cleveland, who has been called the “King of Gospel,” was a homosexual who died of AIDS. [Snip, complete article at link in title.]
West Coast Bible College vs Golden State Bible College (Statement from Jack Trieber)
May 13, 2014
On April 21, 2014, Dr. Jack Trieber telephoned Dr. Paul Chappell to cancel a breakfast appointment that Dr. Chappell had requested with him. Dr. Trieber explained that he did not think that it would be an appropriate time for them to meet because there was an on-going criminal investigation in Santa Clara regarding Dr. Mike Zachary, the Chairman of West Coast Baptist College’s music department.
Dr. Chappell was told that the investigation was on-going and that it was criminal. Dr. Trieber suggested that Dr. Chappell not interfere with the police investigation, and Dr. Trieber always viewed the allegations as both immoral and potentially criminal. That is why Dr. Trieber immediately and personally reported within the hour the allegations to the authorities upon the advice of his legal counsel at the NCLL. Dr. Trieber never recommended that Dr. Chappell keep Dr. Zachary, or any of his staff, as that was Dr. Chappell’s decision to make.
Irrespective of potentially interfering with the police investigation, Dr. Chappell proceeded to interview Dr. Zachary. During the course of these interviews, Dr. Chappell discovered a number of highly troubling facts and serious admissions from Dr. Zachary—Dr. Chappell’s staff member—that led to Dr. Zachary’s termination. It was later disclosed to Dr. Trieber, on May 1, 2014, that one of his staff members may have known about some of these sinful actions of Dr. Zachary. Once confirmed, this staff member was relieved of his responsibilities on May 2, 2014.
The actions to which Dr. Chappell stated Dr. Zachary confessed were clearly acts of gross immorality and potential criminality.
Dr. Zachary’s dismissal—from a high position of leadership within a Bible college—was completely appropriate. We wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Chappell’s decision to dismiss Dr. Zachary immediately.
To be perfectly clear, when West Coast Baptist College hired Dr. and Mrs. Zachary, it was done without Dr. Trieber’s direction. Dr. Zachary had resigned from Golden State Baptist College and lined up his interviews at West Coast Baptist College before Dr. Trieber was even aware of Dr. Zachary’s future life plans.
As a matter of policy, North Valley Baptist Church and Golden State Baptist College report all matters of potential child abuse to the authorities. We do not cover child abuse and we do not hire child abusers. We also do not tolerate immorality among our staff.
Please pray for the victims in this sad situation. They are the ones that are truly injured.
We took this opportunity with our staff and deacons to make sure that they understood that failure to immediately report allegations of child abuse is a crime in the State of California and it is grounds for immediate dismissal from our ministry. Transparency, child safety, and accountability are essential for successful ministry leadership.
