Preacher: "God is Queer"

Pastor Quinton Ceasar: "I would give this sermon again like this".

South African-born pastor Quinton Ceasar provoked strong reactions with his sermon at the Protestant Church Congress in Nuremberg. Now the Pastor from East Frisia told Deutschlandfunk radio: "I would give this sermon exactly the same way again, many people have contributed to it, they dream of a church and these people have given me the courage."

Pastor Quinton Ceasar at the closing service at the Protestant Kirchentag in Nuremberg. He would deliver the controversial sermon again, Ceasar told Deutschlandfunk radio. 

He had not thought that his statement, "God is queer", would provoke both much criticism and much approval, Ceasar stressed. Apparently, he had struck a nerve with some participants with this sentence. For him, it is reassuring that God himself transcends bisexuality. The sentence "God is queer" is a rejection of patriarchal structures. He would have thought that other parts of his sermon would be more provocative.

Ceasar emphasised that he reacted with love to the people who now met him with hatred. But he also receives confirmation from many people of all ages, and that sustains him. These people feel seen, he said, and the church stands by creation. Everyone is invited to experience the liberating love of Christ. No one is excluded.

Ceasar stressed the need to address the question of the relevance of the church. He said it is good when the church speaks up, even if it is from grown-up old men. Sometimes you have to speak truths, even if you get a lot of headwind.

Quinton Ceasar, who was born in South Africa, has been a Protestant pastor in Wiesmoor near Aurich for a year. In his last sermon at the Kirchentag, Ceasar called for more commitment against climate change and racism and pleaded for more social cohesion. The sermon triggered fierce reactions on social media. Ceasar was in part viciously insulted and abused.

Church Congress President Thomas de Maizière and General Secretary Kristin condemned the hate comments. No one had to agree with the statements of the sermons or the elements of the closing services, they said in a statement. Exchanges and "productive disagreement" about them are even welcome, it said. "But attacks on those who justifiably denounce racism and discrimination in the church are devoid of any form of decency and culture of debate; they are deeply unchristian. We resolutely oppose this hatred."

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Cathcon:  If God is merely a projection of human desires, it indicates very poor spirituality compared to the glory that is revealed in prayer and devotion.