(OPINION) A Michigan church is stirring up strong reactions from the community after renting out a popular movie theater sign and quoting Bible verses on it ahead of a nearby LGBT “pride” event.
The Old Theater in Lowell, which has a population of about 3,800 and is located approximately 15 miles east of Grand Rapids, posted the messaging on its marquee, which it regularly rents out for advertising and other uses.
Pastor Josh Langdon of Lowell’s Bible Believers Church told The Christian Post that the church rented out the space to stand up to what he calls an “extreme LGBT agenda that we believe is unbiblical and damaging to our culture.” “It’s an intense battle that we believe as a church that Christians need to stand against,” he said.
Langdon said the church decided to rent the sign when they heard the event was returning to Lowell after 2021, which was the first time the city held an LGBT pride event. Last June, Langdon says the church went to the event with Scripture signs and Gospel tracts to “stand against the movement.”
With this year’s Lowell pride event being held this past Saturday, the congregation rented the Old Theater marquee and put the words of Acts 16:31 on one half and Proverbs 11:2 on the other in the King James Version. Proverbs 11:2 reads: “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”
The signage drew heavy criticism from supporters of the pride event. Many of them took to The Old Theater’s Facebook and Google pages to voice their disapproval, including writing what Langdon said were “intentionally smearing reviews on Google.” Langdon said it wasn’t the church’s intention to cause controversy for the theater.
“I guess I knew that there would be people in the pride movement that would be upset by it, anticipated that they wouldn’t be happy about the verses, but I feel bad that this business is being intentionally [smeared],” he said. “It’s sad to see in our culture this quickness to cancel people that you don’t see eye to eye with, and it’s what it looks like is going on in this case.”
Nicole Lintemuth, board president of Lowell Pride, told CP in an email interview that the group’s mission is to “celebrate the diversity of LGBTQIA+ culture and create a community that is safe and inclusive.” READ MORE
