The Southern Baptist Convention has kicked out a California church that voted earlier this year to disagree that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin.
The Associated Baptist Press reports the Convention’s Executive Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to declare New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Calif., not in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC’s purpose.
The committee said New Heart does not presently meet the definition of a “cooperating church” under an article of the SBC constitution banning congregations which “act to affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior.”
New Heart Community Church is led by pastor Danny Cortez, who first came to national attention in March after delivering a sermon weeks earlier titled “Why I Changed My Mind On Homosexuality.”
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Cortez said his change of opinion on homosexuality came after years of prayer and theological reflection that was reaffirmed when his son Drew came out to him as gay last year.
SBC president Ronnie Floyd, who authored the book “The Gay Agenda,” said in a 2003 sermon that homosexuality “is a gross and evil sin” and called it Satan’s “con job.”
