GERMANTOWN – It wasn’t that long ago that pastor Tyler Parrish and his followers at the cool Christian church, Sojourn, all came out of the closet. They did resort back into the closet , but the leaders are asking for everyone to remember when they were gay.

“Remember our LGBTQ community, that we’re with you”, said paster Parrish. “I know people like to think of us as a church that literally doesn’t allow gay people to be members of the church or express their own gender, but that’s not the point. At the end of the day, we’re all super gay dudes.”

On July 5th, it was a normal Sunday church gathering for the local crowd, all shaking hands and trading graphic design business cards.

“I’ve never met so many people that all have BLM etsy shirt shops”, said Sheldon Pinket”. “God bless this city”.

At first glance you may think Sojourn is some sort of libertarian church of people who grew up with republican fathers, but Parrish disagrees.

“You have to be open to new ideas”, says Parrish. “We’re laying the groundwork by proving to our friends at South East Christian Church, that their church is antiquated. They need to open themselves up to progressive ideas. We welcome everyone, as long as they agree they’re sinners. Otherwise, they can’t be members.”

Parrish walks around the church on Sundays, kissing men behind the stage, sometimes with tongue. But reminding his followers that all of their gayness ends when he pats them three times on the butt.

“I know your readers may think I’m contradicting myself”, says Parrish. “I don’t see it that way. I think as long as I don’t enter them at church, it’s just a way of me showing that we’re brothers. I pat them on the butt three times and they are forgiven. Free to go about their day.”

Sojourn has been a staple in the Germantown community for years. Members have also been buying up property, hoping to make an impact on the small borough in Louisville. They even opened up a bakery for women that have been involved in sex work.

“Yeah we recently closed the bakery because of covid”, says owner Heather North. “But the short time it was open was a huge success. My husband was more committed to me than ever while the business was operating.”