A group of local Boy Scouts learned Tuesday they will no longer be allowed to use facilities at the Anchorage Baptist Temple.
Anchorage Christian Schools, located on the church's campus, is currently home base for Troop 1316, but the church informed scout leaders their relationship will end September 1. The last meeting of the troop is scheduled for Thursday.
What prompted the move is a decision earlier this year by Boy Scouts of America to allow openly gay members.
Pastor Jerry Prevo said in an email to Mark Schneider, whose 12-year-old son is a longtime member of the troop, that Boy Scouts have "'tucked and run' from taking a stand since I was a scout."
"ABT has not changed," Prevo wrote. "The Boy Scouts have."
Prevo believes allowing scouts to meet in the building is akin to an endorsement of homosexuality, he wrote in the email. He pointed to Leviticus 18:22 and 1 Corinthians 6:9, verses of the Bible commonly cited by Christian opponents of homosexuality.
Schneider does not entirely agree with the new Boy Scouts' policy, but he believes ABT is putting kids at the center of an issue that should be left to adults."The noise of this issue has overcome what scouting is," Schneider said. "It's not just about camping and going out and learning to start fires. It's so much more than that, and it's completely lost in this one issue and the screaming back and forth."
What is worst about the situation, Schneider believes, is that the core group of eight kids who have been members of the troop for years will dissolve if they are unable to find a new organization to function as a sponsor. And the message it conveys is amiss of a key Christian value, he said.
"Jesus didn't walk with the rich, the wealthy and the pure," Schneider said. "If you don't want sinners in your building, why did you build (a church)?"
But Jim Minnery of the Alaska Family Council argues that LGBT advocates forced the hand for many churches that oppose homosexuality.
Minnery described his perception of his opponents: "We're going to not allow you to have a view thats not completely supportive of our lifestyle," he said. "And if you do then we'll come after you with everything we have
Some church leaders in Anchorage, though, disagree with the assertion that the church should distance itself from homosexuals. There is an effort by some clergy to make sure displaced troops find a new place to meet.
Rev. Peter Perry is the pastor of Saint John United Methodist Church. His congregation has a decades-old relationship with the Boy Scouts, and he expects that will continue for decades into the future because the values of the organization are basically concurrent with his church.
"The reason why churches get connected with scouting is the virtues that scouting teaches, the sense of fellowship, the citizenship that grows out of that," he said. "Scouting is faith-based."
There is disagreement within the Methodist Church over the morality of homosexuality, he said, but he believes the controversy should be resolved more broadly within the church and society than singling out scouts.
"We knew there would be churches in the community that would close their doors due to the scout's action," Perry said.
That's why he and other religious leaders around Anchorage formed a coalition, Christians for Equality, in part to help displaced scouts find new places to meet.
"We (will) find churches to welcome displaced troops," Perry said. "We think that's an important role for the church to have: to love and support all children."
Channel 2 contacted Anchorage Baptist Temple and asked to speak to Prevo multiple times on Wednesday. He did not respond. Great Alaska Council, which oversees Alaska scout troops, declined to comment.
Channel 2's Rebecca Palsha contributed to this story.