A Lutheran pastor has been targeted by a homosexual magazine whose journalist infiltrated a confidential support group.
Pastor Tom Brock, of Hope Lutheran church, Minneapolis, was known to broadcast conservative views on homosexuality, and had protested against the decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America to allow churches to hire non-celibate homosexuals as clergy. Over the course of two months this spring, Pastor Tom Brock had also been attending an anonymous, Catholic run support group for people who were struggling with homosexual attraction.
John Townsend, a journalist who writes for homosexual magazine ‘Lavender’, joined the group on false pretences with a view to expose Pastor Tom Brock’s struggles. His expose became the cover story for the magazine. However, this has raised questions with many people about the ethics of the magazine in betraying the anonymity of such a group, and whether the incident will cause people to stop receiving help from such groups for fear of their confidentiality being breached.
Father Livingston, the Catholic Priest who referred the journalist to the program, said that Lavender’s decision "wasn’t so much an ethical decision as a hate crime. They didn’t like [Brock’s] values and belief system and went after him personally.” Hope Lutheran's executive pastor, the Rev. Tom Parrish, said that when confronted with the article, Brock "said he indeed had been attending this Christian group, both going there and being honest about temptations he has, and is being held accountable so he never would do anything with that temptation.” The Lavender article never explicitly said that Brock confessed to any homosexual activity.