Megachurch invites ‘biblical sexuality’ speaker to Fresno; protesters call it anti-LGBTQ

A controversial speaker, invited to give talks on sexuality and gender identity at a Fresno church this week, sparked outcry from community members who organized a demonstration of just over 20 people in response.

The Well Community Church, a megachurch with multiple locations in Fresno and Clovis and thousands of parishioners, hosted three sessions this week led by guest speaker Denny Burk. The sessions focus on the “biblical view” of homosexuality, gender identity and “sexual confusion,” according to the church’s website.

Well Community Church leaders did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A professor of biblical studies at Boyce College in Kentucky, Burk backed the controversial “Nashville Statement” by the Council of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, which condemns homosexuality and transgender identities. Burk is president of the council.

In a July blog post titled “Sexual Immorality Driving a World Health Emergency,” Burk also criticized World Health Organization leaders for urging the public not to stigmatize men who have sex with men while monkeypox continues to affect them disproportionately. He wrote that gay sex is “destructive and unhealthy” and that “the lack of stigma” is helping drive the spread of the disease. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Fresno State junior Isla Dudley and her co-organizer, Fresno State graduate student Jose Solorio, told The Bee that they’ve both witnessed the harm that “persecution” from religious groups can cause the LGBTQ community. The protest was meant as counterpoint to show LGBTQ folks in Fresno that there are people out there who love and accept them.

“I really hope that the takeaway is that there are many of us who are willing to put ourselves in uncomfortable situations in order to hopefully make a better future for the collective,” said Dudley, who identifies as part of the LGBTQ community.

“I’m not protesting this church per se. I’m protesting Denny Burk’s seminar here — that is hosted by the Well Church,” said Jessica Mahoney, a community organizer in Fresno. “He’s making up his own theology according to his own perceived hate against a certain group of people.”

Protest co-organizer Solorio said the goal of Thursday’s protest was not to change anyone’s mind at the event itself. Despite that, a handful of people attending the series crossed the parking lot to speak with the protesters.

One attendee named Joshua, who declined to share his last name, told The Bee he thought his lengthy conversation about the biblical prescription of marriage with the protesters was successful.

“Any conversation where you’re able to engage and people don’t get hurt is definitely a step in the right direction,” he said.

The protesters also received many supportive honks and shouts from rush hour commuters driving by Thursday evening — although one man was seen rolling down his window and repeatedly yelling “Freak show!” at the demonstrators.

Thursday’s protest was just one of several clashes between Fresno’s LGBTQ community and local Christian churches in recent years.

Earlier this summer, a few hundred people gathered to listen to local pastors call out several events that took place in Fresno during Pride Month, including a prayer in which Pastor Raygan Baker of the Big Red Church called God “the queer one” before the second annual Pride flag raising at Fresno City Hall. Meanwhile dozens of members of the LGBTQ community and their allies gathered for a counter-demonstration.

The battle over the rights to Fresno’s Tower Theatre during the past two years also precipitated regular confrontations between LGBTQ activists and members and supporters of Adventure Church — until the City of Fresno stepped in and purchased the theater.

“It’s no coincidence that we’re seeing multiple church organizations spewing the same rhetoric,” Dudley, one of the protest organizers, said about recent events in Fresno. “We live in a time of extreme opinions, and people feel that they’re able to voice their opinions with little to no consequences.”

Solorio said the protesters plan to be back in front of the Well Community Church to continue demonstrating against the series Sunday morning.