Local author exposes homosexuality in the music ministry
By Daniel R. Brown
Of the St. Louis American
For the past 10 years, Minister Allen Wicks’ gospel message has been heard across St. Louis’ airwaves on his gospel music show, Let’s Talk Music, on KSTL 690 AM. Now, Wicks wants to talk about music – and a certain taboo subject – in his new book, Homosexuality & The Music Ministry, which was presented at a book signing Sunday at New Life Christian Church in Florissant.
In his book, Wicks attacks what he calls “the spirit of homosexuality,” which he says “is causing a counterfeit worship experience to occur within many of our churches worldwide.”
“It is not a book that is downing homosexuals. God loves the people, and I do, too,” Wicks explained to the American.
“It’s a book that is addressing the sin of homosexuality. There are those that don’t believe that it’s a sin, but they have to argue with the Bible, not me. The fight is not with me.”
One of the Biblical sources for this view discussed in Wicks’ book is Romans I, where men “leaving the natural use of the woman” who “burned in their lust one toward another” are included in a list of “unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God.”
Wicks insisted, “This is not a gay-bashing book. I am praying that the book starts a discussion, not only on homosexuality, but sexuality in general in the church, because it crosses over.”
The discussion he hopes to instigate gets underway instantly when the subject is presented to anyone in the religious community. Everyone interviewed by the American volunteered strong opinions and insights, though most declined to make their identity public due to the sensitivity of the subject.
“The issue of homosexuals in the music ministry definitely exists. And it isn’t just a St. Louis thing. I travel all around the country, and the problem is prevalent,” one local gospel musician said.
“The churches appoint people over their youth and don’t realize the impact they have. Those young people are paying close attention and emulating those leaders.”
“It’s all over St. Louis. It’s all over the place. It is an issue that the church leaders need to address,” agreed a local minister and gospel music producer who has worked with several national artists.
“The ministers don’t preach on the subject. They don’t come in the church and say that homosexuality is wrong. They will talk about fornicators and adulterers before they will talk about homosexuals in the church, because it is taboo to talk about homosexuals in the church.”
He continued, “If a pastor was having sex with five or six women in the church and he is married, and it all comes to a head and the church finds out about it, they will lock him out of the church. But that same church will not refuse a homosexual minister of music. Just because a person is talented and does wrong, does that mean you have to follow them into hell?”
Not every voice within the local church community agreed that homosexuality within the music ministry is a pathway to hell.
“God created us to be sexual beings. I think people need to be allowed to make a choice of how they want to live that out,” said Bishop Wyatt I. Greenlee Jr., pastor of Greater New Higher Heights Christian Church.
“God has not called me to judge. God has called me to love.”
Greenlee said that singling out homosexuality as a sin within the music ministry involves many church people in hypocrisy.
“It is amazing to me how people can identify homosexuals in the music ministry, but yet they include them in their worship,” Greenlee said. “They may not say they have any, but they sing their songs.”
His claims of hyposcrisy cut even deeper, when he said, “They use the King James Version of the Bible, which was written by King James, a known homosexual.”
In fact, King James I of England did not write the version of the Bible named for him, he authorized an official translation of Scripture that became canonical. And his sexuality remains open to conjecture, though when the unmarried Scottish king inherited the English throne from the also unmarried Queen Elizabeth in 1603, it was openly joked in London that Rex fuit Elizabeth: nunc est regina Jacobus (Elizabeth was king: now James is queen).
Wicks’ book is more theology than sociology. It is full of rambling sermons and offers no direct evidence for the social phenomenon it supposedly takes as its subject. But its aggressive rejection of homosexuality may be appreciated from the forward, remarkably addressed to Satan himself, which ends with the bold and italicized order: “GET BACK, SATAN!”
Greenlee finds such hostile rejection of homosexuality in the music ministry to be repulsive.
“If that’s the case, take all the music out of the church that was written by homosexuals. Take anything out of the church that was made by a homosexual. Don’t use any of it,” Greenlee said.
“If you are going to throw the homosexual away, then throw away everything that is tied to homosexuals.”
For more information about the book, Homosexuality & The Music Ministry, contact Minister Allen Wicks at POB 2631, East St. Louis, Illinois 62202 or call (618) 271-0266.