Worship Services

* Re “Law on Disrupting Worship Draws Fire,” Sept. 15:

As the moderator and founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the largest organization touching gays and lesbians in the world, I read with interest the article concerning the new law that doubles the penalty for disrupting a church service. I am a gay Christian who is delighted with the action of our Legislature.

I’m just at a loss as to why the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition claims this will “level the playing field,” as though fundamental Christian churches have been the only groups targeted by protesters in California. As the head of a Christian denomination that has had 18 of its churches arsoned in the last 26 years, I’m delighted with this law.

For two years the local Metropolitan Community Church in San Diego was picketed every Sunday morning by screaming demonstrators from an independent Baptist church. It only stopped when a member of that church was arrested by the FBI for setting a bomb in the basement of an abortion clinic in San Diego and when the pastor of the group was arrested for trying to tamper with a witness in that case.

Hopefully, this law will stop the Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan., when he flies into California to disrupt the funeral worship services of AIDS patients as he did this year at the funeral service of Randy Shilts, the author of “And the Band Played On,” a history of the AIDS epidemic in America.

Any time any group, whether it is the Aryan Nation (who set our church on fire in Springfield, Mo., the same day as it burned down the Jewish Community Center), or misguided gay demonstrators (trying to break up a worship service where someone who we perceive as our enemy is speaking), or fundamental Christians (trying to disrupt the worship service of a predominantly gay congregation), it is wrong!

Hopefully, all of us remember what happens when anyone disregards the parts of our Constitution that give all of us the right to worship God and to believe what we may under our freedom of religion laws, as well as the right of every citizen, whether it is Sheldon or myself, to use the right to free speech to declare what we believe is the truth.

THE REV. ELDER TROY D. PERRY

Los Angeles