Bishop Tells Her Church She Married a Woman, Then She Quits Her Job

The subject of gay marriage is a touchy one in the church.  It is even touchier in the black church, which is more conservative than churches in other communities.  This led to controversy when Bishop Allyson D. Nelson Abrams told her church that she was married to a woman.  She then announced that she was resigning from the Zion Progressive Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan so as not to be a distraction.

Bishop Abrams informed the folks at Newsone.com that she was married to another Bishop by the name of Diana Williams of the Imani Temple of the African-American Catholic Congregation in Washington, DC.  The two kept their marriage under wraps, but eventually, the rumors spun out of the control and the issue had to be confronted.

”I could have been like so many people are and lied and said it’s not true,” Abrams, said to NewsOne. ”But that’s not how I was raised and, as a Christian, I was always taught to be a truthful individual. So when it came up I said, ‘OK. I need to be honest with my congregation and tell them truth about what was a great event for me.”’

Right after making the announcement to her congregation, the Bishop resigned from her post.  She also told the Michigan Chronicle that she was leaving the church and also resigning from her position as the co-editor of a magazine called “The Baptist Progress.”

So, this leads to the question:  If the pastor you know and love came and told you that they were married to a person of the same gender, what would you do?  Do you think that church members truly hate those who are gay or they just expect them to keep their private lives to themselves?