Bishop Alfred Owens
Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church
610 Rhode Island Avenue NE
Washington DC 20002
202-529-4547
www.gmchc.org

After hearing an excerpt of “Fan or Follower” by Bishop Alfred Owens, I must say, I wasn’t really surprised. He and his wife, Co-Pastor Susie Owens have a long history of spouting ignorant homophobic rhetoric and calling it preaching sermons. So this sermon really didn’t strike me as anything new coming from the hallowed halls of hell called Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church (GMCHC). Alfred and Susie both are well known in the DC community for calling out derogatory names like “sissy”, “punk”, “faggot” and the like from the pulpit. And each time they do it, the response is cheers and jeers from a congregation full of other homophobes and mostly frustrated, lonely and bitter women who are looking for husbands, but all they see are men who don’t want them EVERY SINGLE SUNDAY. Good thing they have a “sacred desk” they could stand behind because they know they’d get dealt with point blank if they said this mess in the street to somebody face to face.

In this sermon he pretty much acknowledges that there are gay (or Same Gender Loving) men in the church. This is something he’s known for quite some time. They are the most faithful attendees. He also knows that if he continues to use fear and ignorance to control them, they are also the most willing to be pimped. But to say that these men are not “real” men or to infer that they are not “men of God” because they aren’t straight is downright wrong. To that, I only have one thing to say in response…

I’d like everyone to keep in mind that Jesus said “love your neighbor AS (or with the same intensity that) you love yourself”. In other words, the love (or hate) you have for yourself will be shown in how you treat others. This says to me that one cannot say hateful words, or do hateful things to another person unless they are dealing with self-hate issues. You can’t treat anyone any better or worse than how you treat yourself. So Alfred’s statements tell a great deal about his own issues. I personally see a gay man doing his best to preach his own deliverance from something that he doesn’t understand or like about himself. What better way to make yourself fell good than to make others feel bad? Right? Let’s pray that one day God will wake him up so he can stop preaching the hate he has within to other people.

Seeing as this is an ongoing practice at GMCHC, the thing that is more disturbing is the large number of same gender loving people who continually support this nonsense. GMCHC is home to countless same gender loving men and women who give their money, time, talent and devotion to a place that is killing them. More than being angry at the cowardly so-called pastors of this church who spread hate and THEN have the nerve to have an HIV/AIDS prevention ministry…I’m more concerned for the people who allow their spiritual bodies to be abused by this pimp. I mean what more does the man have to say or do? He SAID, “The church was never for punks or sissies, but you’re a real man when you can stand up and make a commitment to Jesus Christ”.

So instead of getting all passionate about this man and his ignorance, let me just break this down to all my beloved same gender loving brothers and sisters who support this church and those like it...

“Boo, Pimp (I mean Bishop) Owens and his wife don’t love you. They don’t like you. They SURE AS HELL don’t respect you. This sermon and the many others like it are proof of that fact. The only reason they say they love you and half way tolerate you being there is because they know they can pimp you for your talent and your money. In fact, they depend on your internalized homophobia to make their living.

I mean, doesn’t this make you see that this man doesn’t love you? How much more disrespect are you gonna take from people like this? You wouldn’t let somebody say things like that to you in the street. You wouldn’t allow anyone to disrespect you like this ANYWHERE ELSE. And you would immediately see words and actions like this coming from ANYONE ELSE as disrespectful and filled with hate. If this happened on your job, you would file a law suit. If the people who owned your favorite restaurant said things like this to you, you wouldn’t eat there anymore. This is the same thing. No matter how you dress it up, hate is hate. Discrimination is discrimination. So why the hell would you let a confused negro like Alfred Owens treat you this way?

Oh, I’m sorry…I forgot. He got you scared that God will kill you if you speak up for yourself. He can be disrespectful to you in the name of God, because his authority came from God. That’s the only way he can continue to spiritually pimp slap you and get away with it. Well let me tell you something…without a congregation, he ain’t no pastor. Leaders have followers. So his leadership is subject to YOUR choice. Don’t let this foolish man who is trying to work out his own issues make you feel as badly as he does about himself. You deserve better from a pastor or spiritual leader. You’re respected. You’re loved. You’re wanted…but NOT by people like Alfred and Susie Owens. Hopefully, for the last time, you have seen that and will do something about it.”

• Co-Pastor Susie Owens of Greater Mount Calvary - Washington, DC
• Solid Rock Church of God in Christ - MA
• Bishop Paul Morton - New Orleans, LA
• DL Foster of WITNESS - Atlanta, GA
• Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church - Redmond, WA
• Apostle Lobias Murray of Full Gospel Holy Temple - Dallas, TX
• Dr. Miles Munroe of Bahamas Faith Ministries International
• Dr. Frank Madison Reid, III Bethel AME Church - Baltimore, MD
• Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church - Atlanta, GA
• Bishop Thomas Garrot Benjamin of Light of the World Christian Church - Indianapolis, IN
• Rev. Dwight McKissic of Cornerstone Baptist Church - Arlington, TX
• Rev. Willie F. Wilson of Union Temple Baptist Church - Washington, DC