Morehouse College Will Induct Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen The First Openly Gay Minister Into The Prestigious Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board Of Preachers

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Obnoxious Breaking News…….Morehouse College will induct the first openly gay minister in the college’s prestigious Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. On April 3rd, Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen, who studied at Morehouse, will be inducted by Dean Lawrence Edward Carter into this hall of great preachers. Carter is the Dean of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel that sits on the campus of Morehouse College, and it is the only spiritual building named in honor of the greatest graduate of this institution.
Morehouse College started in basement of Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia as a school for Baptist preachers. Some of the greatest preachers in this nation are Morehouse College graduates. It is very fitting for the college to have named this great board after one of its greatest apostates of the gospel: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These great preachers must demonstrate the philosophy of the civil rights leader’s life work for peace, justice, and nonviolence.
Morehouse College is an all-male institution and a historically black college, which has made the discussion about sex and sexuality very difficult in the past and it still remains a taboo subject today. However, Dean Carter’s bold move might be the step in the right direction for the college, black church, and African American’s to begin having the discussion. Black men and their sexuality is an unnecessary struggle that folks are resisting accepting, especially black men that enjoy having sex with other men in secret: men that are openly married to women, dating women, or just pretending to be celibate to not entertain the sexual advances from women while enjoying loads of fun entering the anus of other men. Although, Bishop Allen will not technically be the first openly gay man inducted due to Dr. Peter Gomes of Harvard having the great honor bestowed upon. Allen will be the first that is married to a man and actively living as a homosexual. Unlike Gomes who always down played his sexuality with statements that he was celibate and not actively practicing homosexuality (in other words he was not having sex with men let alone married to another man. It is an unspoken truth to be black, gay, and in the church although that is where you can find a great number of same gender loving men engaging in same sex relations.
This decision to induct Bishop Allen into the board of preachers will cause some serious tension. Being a church boy myself and an ordained elder, I know a great deal of preachers all over the country and the reviews are mixed on this topic. Surprisingly enough, the ones with the greatest contention are the very ones privately living double lives. The double lifers do not want to openly see a gay man that is unashamed about whom he is and whom he loves to have the same honor bestowed upon him as heterosexuals. (They want the dark to remain dark and have no light shown even though they enjoy same sex relations with men themselves.) The only difference, these hypocrites placate to the image conscious society and marries a woman for appearance’ sake while she is publicly known as the “first lady” and their boyfriend (lover) is seen as a good buddy, supporter, armor bearer, deacon, minister so-in-so, et al. How long will the black church allow these lies to be told and the games to be played? Time out for the foolishness! Exposure is underestimated and yet so powerful and liberating. People need to be who they are and not give a damn about what anyone has to say about it. Stop trying to impress people with lies and the Christian vernacular that are unimpressive themselves.
Bishop Allen (Clay) is a personal friend that refused to lie and hide. Kudos to him! At one time he was engaged to a woman and was headed down a long dark road filled with a life of lies and hiding, but he could not do it. His conscious got the best of him. It was at Morehouse College, ironically in King Chapel, the same place where he will be inducted in the Board of Preachers, where Clay came out of the closet! I remember it like it was yesterday. It was during a class assembly when Clay took the mic and prefaced his question with this statement, “As a gay, young, black man . . .,” we did not hear another word because silence hit the chapel like thunder and lightning and shocked everyone with ears that heard him. CVS did not make enough Valium or Xanax to calm the nerves of everyone that was in hearing distance, especially mine. In seconds, this young preacher with a promising future was the talk of the campus. Nonetheless, he took a stand to be honest and not live his life as a liar unlike so many of his counterparts and others.
Years ago over a late night breakfast at R. Thomas when Allen was the youth pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church; I prophesied to him that he would be a pastor. Now look at what the Lord has done and it is marvelous in our eyes. His husband, the First Gentleman Rashad Burgess, will be seated among the other minister wives ready or not, like it or not. Now some are excited for the progressive step while others are saying that Dean Carter has gone too far this time. Congratulations Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen on this great honor and most all on being true to yourself!
Obnoxious Breaking News…….Morehouse College will induct the first openly gay minister in the the college’s prestigious Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers. On April 3 Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen, who studied at Morehouse will be inducted by Dean Lawrence Edward Carter into this hall of great preachers. Carter is the Dean of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel that sits on campus of Morehouse College, which is the only spiritual building named in honor of the greatest graduate of the institution.
Morehouse College started in basement of Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia as a school for Baptist preachers. Some of the greatest preachers in this nation a Morehouse College graduates and how fitting for the college to have named this great board after one of the greatest apostolators of the Gospel, Dr. King. These great preachers must demonstrate the philosophy of the Civil Rights leaders life work for peace and justice.
Now Morehouse College is an all male institution and Historically Black College, which has made the discussion about sex and sexuality very difficult in the past and it yet remains a challenge today. However, Dean Carter’s bold move might be the step in the right direction for the college, black church, and African American’s to began to have the discussion. Black men and their sexuality tends to be a struggle that folks are going to have to get over, especially black men that enjoy having sex with other men in secret. It is taboo to be Black, Gay, and in the Church even though that is exactly where you can find a great number of same gender loving men.
Now this decision to induct Bishop Allen in the the board of preachers is not coming with out some serious tension. A church boy myself and ordained elder I know a great deal of preachers all over the country and the reviews are very mixed on this topic. Interestingly that a number of the ones with the greatest contention are privately living double lives. However, they do not want to see a man bold and honest about who he is to have the same honor bestowed upon Allen that have once received. The only difference is they played the game and had a wife sitting in the audience as their First Lady and their boyfriend their as a good buddy and supporter. Time out for the games and Lise be who you are and do not give a damn about what anyone has to say about it. Stop trying to impress people that are I impressive themselves.
Bishop Allen (Clay) is a personal friend that refused to lie and hide. At one time he was engaged to a female and was headed down a long dark road filled with a life of lies and hiding, but he could not do it. It was at Morehouse College ironically in King Chapel, the same place where he will be inducted into the Board of Preachers that Clay came out of the closet! I remember it like it was yesterday, during what is called a class assembly Clay took the mic and prefaced his question with this statement, “As a gay young black man,” we did not hear another word when dead silence hit the chapel. CVS does not make enough Valumm to calm my nerves. In seconds Clay, this young preacher with a promising future was the talk of campus. However, he took a stand to be honest and not live his life as a lier like so many.
Years ago over a late night breakfast at R. Thomas while he was the youth pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church I prophesied to him that he would be a pastor. Now look at what the Lord has done and it is marvelous in our eyes. His husband, the First Gentleman Rashad Burgess will be seated among the other mister wives known as First Ladies and be acknowledged ready or not like it or not. Now some are excited for the progressive step and others are saying that Dean Carter has gone to far this time. Congratulations Bishop Oliver Clyde Allen on this great honor and most of all on being true to yourself!