Panelists take part in a discussion during the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission National Conference on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, in Nashville. From left are Sam Allberry, associate pastor of St. Mary’s Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England, Rosaria Butterfield, and Christopher Yuan.NASHVILLE – More than a thousand evangelical pastors and others – gathered for a three-day conference to steel the resolve of Christians who preach that gay relationships are sinful – were asked a simple question: How many live in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage?
Hands rose all across the convention hall.
“This moral revolution is happening at warp speed,” said the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “This is a real challenge to us on biblical authority.”
Speakers at the event said they understood they were on the losing end of the culture war on marriage. But they were prepared to be the voice of a moral minority because gay marriage is a “rejection of God’s law,” according to Mohler. He said evangelicals needed to have “a lot of agonizing conversations” about how to move forward.
The conference, called “The Gospel, Homosexuality and the Future of Marriage,” is taking place not only against the backdrop of expanding gay marriage, but also amid a small but vocal movement of evangelicals who publicly advocate greater acceptance of gays. Several of the advocates attended the conference and held behind-the-scenes meetings with evangelical leaders to seek common ground.