c. 2005 Religion News Service

NEW ORLEANS _ In the spring, the Rev. Dexter Brecht thought he had found a home for his 45-member congregation _ at least for the next 12 months, as the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans looked for a permanent home. Within the Catholic-owned Project Lazarus complex, the congregation’s new quarters, the church seemed to have found a perfect way station.

The Metropolitan Community Church of Greater New Orleans was established a few decades ago to serve gay, bisexual and transgendered congregants. The Project Lazarus complex, a facility owned by the Archdiocese of New Orleans, provides hospice and palliative services to AIDS patients, many of whom are gay.

But now, three months into the one-year lease, the archdiocese has announced it is terminating the arrangement because the Metropolitan Community Church supports gay marriage.

Termination of the agreement comes as a sharp disappointment to Brecht, but it’s the motivation that has injured his spirit, he said.

“We believe that homosexuality is one of the sexualities created by God, which is in contradiction to Roman Catholic teachings that say homosexuality is bad and (should) not be acted upon,” Brecht said.

An archdiocesan spokesman, the Rev. William Maestri, confirmed that doctrinal differences with the Metropolitan Community Church triggered the eviction.

“This particular group blesses gay unions, which we do not support,” Maestri said.

After learning of the Metropolitan Community Church’s teachings, the archdiocese had to act, Maestri said. Continuing the lease might create the impression that the Catholic church is either indifferent or in support of the teachings of that church, “which we are not,” Maestri said.

The archdiocese _ which created Project Lazarus to serve people with AIDS, “regardless of how AIDS is contracted” _ does not reject gay men and lesbians, Maestri said.

The Catholic church ministers to the gay community through various support groups, he said, and desires to provide continued spiritual and pastoral support for these Catholics, Maestri said.

Brecht described the decision as “another blatant example of the homophobic policies present in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”

“My desire is for people to pray for the people in the archdiocese making decisions to do spiritual and emotional harm to LGBT people,” he said, using a shorthand reference to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.

The archdiocese is within its legal rights to terminate the arrangement. The agreement that gave the Metropolitan Community Church a year’s lease on the space within the Project Lazarus complex known as Daybreak Center included a proviso that either party could end the deal by giving a 90-day notice, Brecht said.

There’s a possibility the church’s 45-member congregation may have found a permanent home, said Brecht, whose congregation used borrowed space at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church before moving into the Daybreak Center.

After a Thursday (Aug. 11) newspaper report described the problem with the Catholic archdiocese, Brecht said several faith communities contacted him to offer alternatives. They included Temple Sinai, First Unitarian Universalist and St. Matthew United Church of Christ, all of New Orleans. A Metairie business and one on the West Bank also made offers, he said.

Brecht said he was scheduled to take a walk through a Marigny warehouse, a more than 5,000-square-foot structure in the church’s price range, that could become the congregation’s permanent home.

Brecht was overjoyed by what he called “an unexpected quality and depth of support that has reaffirmed my faith in humanity and in the people of faith in New Orleans.”

“I am close to being overwhelmed by the outpouring of goodwill, particularly from faith communities,” Brecht said.

MO/JL END RNS

(Leslie Williams writes for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans)

Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for photos of Brecht and Maestri.