Gustavo Solis

The Desert Sun

The top pastor of Southwest Church in Indian Wells was asked to resign because he refused to condemn homosexuality, he explained in his resignation letter. (The full letter can be viewed at the bottom of this page)

A few months ago, Pastor Gerald Sharon – who has been lead pastor of Southwest since 2013 and previously served at Saddleback Church in Orange County – asked the church hierarchy to look into “the extent to which a homosexual individual could be involved in the life of Southwest Church.”

While the church leadership initially seemed engaged in the discussions, they recently sent Sharon a letter in which they unanimously affirmed Southwest’s current position on homosexuality.

Southwest’s LGBT policy is written down in a document titled “Homosexuality and Human Sexuality.” The document does not appear to be publicly available.

“My heart sank realizing that no homosexual person who would read these documents would truly feel welcome at Southwest Church,” Sharon wrote in his resignation letter.

“And, if the positions held in these papers are followed, they will effectively exclude homosexual individuals from the life of Southwest. My desire was to rescind these papers, neither affirming nor condemning homosexuality so that all individuals regardless of their perspective could feel completely welcome and fully loved at Southwest.”

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Sharon’s resignation is effective July 8, but the church elders have forbidden him from attending any services at Southwest, according to the resignation letter.

“The reason I have not taught the past four weekends is because the Elders would not permit me to, nor did they want Gesa and I even attending services,” the pastor wrote. “However, I don’t want there to be any doubt that my heart and Gesa’s heart intensely longs for you every day.”

Church elders announced Sharon's abrupt departure to their members during Saturday's evening service, hours before a gunman killed 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando. Several families walked out of the service after hearing the elders' message.

“I couldn’t support their decision,” Paula Marvin said. “I just looked at my husband and said ‘so you want to leave?’”

Marvin, 46, has been a member of the church for seven years and has already begun looking for a new congregation to join. She stood outside Southwest Church on Sunday morning carrying rainbow flags in protest.

In a statement, Southwest Church simultaneously condemned same-sex relationships and welcomed members of the LGBT community to their church.

“Southwest believes that all sexual expressions are based on personal choices, some right and some wrong in the eyes of God,” the statement read.

“While Southwest does not believe that being active in same-sex attraction is right in the eyes of God, we welcome anyone to our church. We strongly stand against those who have used the Scriptures as a means to do harm or cause bias towards members in the LGBT community. We believe we can disagree, while not being disagreeable. We believe in civility and healthy dialogue.”

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Announcement of Sharon’s resignation came hours before the biggest mass shooting in American history in an Orlando gay nightclub. The shooter reportedly harbored homophobic views; his father told news outlets the shooter became visibly upset when he saw two men kiss.

Church spokesman Jeff Gonzalez wrote: “After hearing of the horrific events in Orlando, we stand together with our community and country in prayer.”

However, there was no silent moment of prayer or mention of the mass shooting during Sunday's 11 a.m. service, said congregant Angel Nelson.

"Here we have the biggest shooting in American history and the church said nothing," Nelson said. "I thought that was in extremely poor taste. It was even more of a slap in the face of the LGBT community how they did not recognize the victims and instead went on and on about the church’s stance against (gay) marriage.”

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Nelson, who left the Catholic Church to join a more accepting congregation, plans to stay at Southwest and help make it a more inclusive place that welcomes the gay community.

"I’d like the valley to know that not everyone in Southwest agrees with the elders and the church is not defined by the decisions made by the elders," said Nelson, 34.

Before the Sunday service, Tiffany Galvan saw Marvin and others waving rainbow flags outside the church.

She initially thought it was in solidarity with the mass shooting victims but soon realized, when the announcement of Sharon's resignation came, that it was in protest of the church.

“We were just all shocked; it was just like everyone was in disbelief,” Galvan said. “I’m a little lost also because they never really gave us why he was asked to resign.”

Galvan, 34, who also walked out of the church after the announcement, said church elders mentioned that marriage is between one man and one woman but did not specifically say what Sharon’s views are and why he was asked to resign.

As the sister of a transgender woman and cousin of a lesbian, Galvan was disappointed in Sharon's departure. Galvan said she did not want her children to learn about their faith in an environment that doesn't welcome the LGBT community.

Sharon is not the first pastor to resign amid controversy. In 2002, Pastor David Moore was asked to step down after a nude photograph of him, his wife, and the wife of a church member surfaced.

Reporter Gustavo Solis can be reached at 760 778 4443 or by email at gustavo.solis@desertsun.com and twitter @journogoose.

Read the pastor's resignation letter: