St. Mark United Methodist Church and Southern Voice had event contracts canceled at The Abbey at St. Paul's after church leaders learned same-sex dancing might occur. (Photo by Dyana Bagby)
Gay events barred from Midtown facility The Abbey now home to conservative Christian church
An iconic Midtown venue that used to be filled with shirtless gay men partying away weekends has become a conservative Christian church that refuses to rent its facility for events that feature same-sex dancing.
After drifting throughout Midtown since 1999, the congregation of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church purchased the former Abbey restaurant in April 2006. A gothic structure situated on the southern edge of Midtown on Ponce De Leon Avenue, the Abbey was a longtime popular nightlife venue for gay and straight promoters, but had fallen into disrepair during its last years operating as a restaurant.
A pair of gay events that were scheduled to take place at The Abbey in February and March were canceled when St. Paul’s leadership discovered the parties might include gay couples dancing.
The organizers of Club M.A.R.K. — a church-wide dance sponsored by the gay-welcoming St. Mark United Methodist Church — entered a rental agreement with St. Paul’s in October, but didn’t learn until days before their Feb. 9 dance that St. Paul’s was canceling the event.
“We were within about five days of the event,” said St. Mark Senior Pastor James Moor, who added that the dance was advertised on fliers, posters, handouts and in newspapers.
“They apparently were uncomfortable with same-gender dancing,” Moor said. “It’s all somewhat mysterious to us.”
St. Paul’s leadership also backed out of a rental agreement with Southern Voice for The Abbey to host the newspaper’s 20th anniversary party March 7, according to Southern Voice publisher Bob Gunby.
“My understanding is one of the owners found out about it and they said no,” Gunby said. “Obviously, it’s within their right [to not lease their property to gay groups], but in view of the community that has done so much for this part of town, in this day and age it still seems like such an issue for same-sex groups to take advantage of what other people are able to take advantage of.”
The St. Paul’s staff member responsible for booking the facility, events coordinator Melissa Alford, declined an interview request. St. Paul’s Pastor Chris Robins did not respond to repeated interview requests by press time.
In January, Keith Hand, who is gay, entered a contract with St. Paul’s to run his catering business, Bridge Catering, out of the church's renovated kitchen. Hand also signed a contract to cater all functions at St. Paul’s, and said it was shocking that any events facility in Midtown would prohibit gay groups from renting space.
“It’s very sad,” said Hand, who has also been a member of St. Mark for 11 years. “It’s a precarious situation for us.”
Hand said his sexual orientation or the diversity within his catering company has never been an issue with St. Paul’s leadership, who appear to have altered their rental policies after denying the gay organizations.
“They decided they’re only going to do weddings here, I think that is their latest statement,” Hand said.
Both Southern Voice and St. Mark had entered into contracts with Bridge Catering for food services, but only St. Mark had finalized a contract with St. Paul's to rent the church's space. St. Paul's canceled its contract with St. Mark, and informed SoVo that it would not host the anniversary party.
The Club M.A.R.K. dance was rescheduled for March 1 at Paris on Ponce, while Southern Voice organizers continue to look for a replacement venue for the anniversary event.
Moor is not naïve enough to believe that all churches — especially ones that are situated on the more conservative end of the theological spectrum — are welcoming of gay people and organizations. Part of what frustrates Moor is that St. Paul’s expressed its views by reneging on a contract.
“If that’s who you are, that’s who you are, but tell us up front,” said Moor, who wrote and hand-delivered a letter to St. Paul’s leadership on the same Monday that St. Mark found out Club M.A.R.K. was canceled. The letter demanded a refund of the deposit Club M.A.R.K. had paid, and St. Paul’s officials were waiting with the refund check in-hand, Moor said.
The St. Mark pastor said he plans on writing a second letter to St. Paul’s that goes beyond expressing displeasure at St. Paul’s business practices.
“I didn’t articulate our feelings much in the first letter,” Moor said. “I think, on the one hand, this has been a very painful, hurtful thing for our church. I think it caught some of our folks off guard and it’s just been very hurtful.”
St. Mark isn’t looking to pick a fight with St. Paul’s, but practice Christian forgiveness while hoping the second letter will “spur for them to think some more about some of these actions,” Moor said.
Like many Protestant groups, Presbyterians are split over many social issues, including homosexuality.
St. Paul's belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America, which split from other Presbyterians in 1973 because it opposed the ordination of women. The PCA also declares homosexuality, along with all sex outside of marriage, to be sinful.
Earlier this month, the governing judicial panel of the separate Presbyterian Church (USA), a more liberal Presbyterian denomination, closed a small window of opportunity for gay men and lesbians to join its clergy. The church has officially banned non-celibate gay men and lesbians from being ordained since the early 1990s, and reaffirmed the policy at its 2006 General Assembly.
But as part of an attempted compromise, the 2006 General Assembly also permitted clergy candidates to declare a “scruple” when applying, meaning they objected to a particular element of Presbyterian teaching and the local congregation could decide whether to accept their application. It was widely believed that “scruples” would lead to the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy, but the Feb. 11 ruling by the church’s Permanent Judicial Council eliminated that possibility.
“The fidelity and chastity provision may only be changed by a constitutional amendment. Until that occurs, individual candidates, officers, examining and governing bodies must adhere to it,” the council ruled.
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cc on 2/22/081:41 PM:
Send an email to the pastor of this church and let him know he is not being a good neighbor. His email address is chris@stpaulsatlanta.com
chad on 2/23/085:01 PM:
So what. It's a CHURCH.
jtbatl on 2/24/083:01 PM:
I'm gay and I attend St. Pauls Church. The pastor and his wife are very loving and that is one of ressons I go there. St. Pauls reaches out to gays, homeless, etc. They also have an AIDS ministries which I'm a part of.
Come on guys, are you that desperate for an article. Church is a place of worship and helping others. Not dancing!
jtbatl on 2/24/083:04 PM:
I'm gay and I attend St. Pauls Church. The pastor and his wife are very loving and that is one of the reasons I go there. St. Pauls reaches out to gays, homeless, etc. They also have an AIDS ministries which I'm a part of.
Come on guys, are you that desperate for an article. Church is a place of worship and helping others. Not dancing!
jh on 2/24/0810:22 PM:
jtbatl -
Your comment is not accurate. Look at the website for The Abbey... http://theabbeyatstpauls.com/reservations.htm
They advertise a DANCE FLOOR and they allow DJs and outside entertainment.
Maximum Capacity: 300
Dance Floor
We Allow Outside Entertainment such as bands, DJ and Ensembles
Installed Dance Hall Lighting
Tables and chairs included free of charge (Limited Number)
DReid86 on 2/24/0810:54 PM:
Good point, jh. So I checked out the website. It looks like that site doesn't belong to the church, but instead is owned and maintained by the owner of Bridge Catering (http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/results.jsp?domain=theabbeyatstpauls.com). I don't see anything about event rentals on the church's site (http://www.stpaulsatlanta.dreamhosters.com/).
jh on 2/25/089:37 AM:
Who owns the website is irrelevant. The worship space at St. Paul's has a mirror ball hanging in it. I'm sure they don't spin that during the morning prayer. The point is not that they don't allow people to dance. They just don't allow gay people to dance. If they want to have that belief then great! I won't interfere with their beliefs. But they should advertise that on their website and in their contracts. They made a legally binding contract that they broke. Also, their contract for the event space allows alcohol to be served.St. Paul's is an example of a church being in the wrong busines
DReid86 on 2/25/0810:14 AM:
It's totally relevant. I would seriously doubt that the church decides how the for-profit business in their basement advertises itself.
You make a valid point about the business of the church at-large however. Not sure how the disco ball fits that mission. (I remember the ball from parties years ago!)
As for breaking a contract, I wouldn't be so quick to judge. Seems like the article has some inconsistencies. 1st SoVO had a contract with the church, then they had one only with the caterer. Which is it?
Maybe there's more to the St Marks story too. Would love to hear from the church.
bb12 on 2/25/086:23 PM:
St. Mark had a contract with St. Paul's to rent the space. St. Paul's cancelled the contract after it was in place for several weeks. Their reason for breaking the contract was because there would be same sex dancing. The returned the rental fees to St. Mark. These are facts and not conjectures. St. Paul's is in the wrong. A business does not cancel a contract AND return fees if they are wrong. The loser loses the money.
DReid86 on 2/25/088:54 PM:
I guess one man's "facts" are another's conjecture. Frankly I feel a little dirty defending St. Paul's here, but the reporter and certain interviewees simply play loose with the facts. According to my contact at St. Mark's (who was also directly involved), THEY canceled the event when St. Paul's issued add'l last minute rules about same-sex dancing. Granted, it's absolutely RIDICULOUS to make those demands a week before the dance, but it looks like certain folks are intent on creating an enemy where none exists.
rsatl on 2/25/089:19 PM:
What about LOVE THY NEIGHBOR??? We were here first, let's have a protest!!!
sstone on 2/26/088:29 AM:
It seems St. Paul Pres. "church" made a bad business deal. They played the "bait and switch" tactic after the fact. St. Paul is being dishonest in their business practices. This is not a matter of "love thy neighbor" or "turn the other cheek". St Paul's is running a business and as such should abide by their contract. Otherwise, close your business. I'm not surprised St. Paul's did this. I've heard they've done it before. I would say to anyone in need of an event space...save yourself the grief and work with a real business. Atlanta has MANY event spaces that are far superior.
cc on 2/26/081:27 PM:
Dreid86... you say "folks are intent on creating an enemy where none exists." Sorry. But as a gay man, if someone openly and blatantly discriminates against me, then I do consider them an enemy. I am tired of self-loathing gay people making excuses for religious organizations who continue to treat them like a 3rd class citizen and worse. If you think this church having one set of standards for straight people and another for gay people is acceptable, then you deserve nothing more than the status they have awarded you.
DReid86 on 2/26/082:57 PM:
No self-loathing here, but it's obvious we define our enemies differently. Ironic that some would castigate others for a lack of neighborly love, then in the next breath speak of protests and letter writing campaigns. I guess the saying should really be: "love your neighbor, but only if they see things your way and conform to your definition of neighborly." Perhaps it's foreign to some, but it's entirely possible for me to "love my neighbor as myself" WITHOUT agreeing with their worldview, religious beliefs or rental policy - and with absolutely no expectations of a love returned.
cc on 2/28/085:00 PM:
Love They Neighbor is a beautiful sentiment, but when your neighbor openly discriminates against you then you should push back. If we stand by passively and allow people to treat us like this, then our lives and the lives of those who follow in our footsteps will never improve... in fact, gay people in the future will be treated worse. So love your neighbor all you want, but this gay man is going to give them an earful.
BADBOYBILL on 3/9/081:59 AM:
What more would you expect from a church? It's not like many of them actually practice what they preach.
christine on 3/17/0810:09 PM:
i can't help but wonder what the missing facts are here. i know the pastor and his wife, as well as others in the church. they are just flat out not hateful or ignorant people. at worst, they are disorganized, not very good business people, and not the best communicators. i suspect that these were the real factors behind the cancellation -- not discrimination or hatred.
