People have reported that openly LGBTQ people in Mosaic could only volunteer in behind-the-scenes roles such as “cleaning bathrooms and floors” but they could never be seen on stage in a position of leadership. The real life stories provided by former attendees of Mosaic indicate that the church is in alignment with the SBC’s non-affirming policies. In 2008, McManus said in an interview that the original name of Mosaic LA was “First Southern Baptist Church of East Los Angeles” and that “we and the Southern Baptists have the same high view of Scripture.”.In 2006, McManus taught a ministry leadership course at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, which is a “ graduate theological school of the Southern Baptist Convention.” Mosaic launched a special partnership between Golden Gate Seminary in which church interns could enroll in a two-year program at Golden Gate.In 2006, McManus spoke on a panel in a SBC Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina.In 2004, a Los Angeles Times article describes McManus as “an ordained Southern Baptist minister.” He graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, whose mission is to “assist the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention.” His Amazon author bio for a 2006 book lists that he receives his MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.In 2002, Baptist Press described Mosaic as “ one of the most missionary-sending churches in the Southern Baptist Convention.”.In addition to Mosaic’s listing in the SBC database, here are several pieces of evidence of its Southern Baptist ties: Mosaic’s lead pastor Erwin McManus not only failed to disclose Mosaic’s SBC affiliation in the statement provided to Hypebeast, but he has also explicitly evaded or even denied that the church’s affiliation when asked point-blank on Twitter: “We would never define ourselves as SBC.”
Given that these policies were not listed on Mosaic’s website, we scored Mosaic as “Unclear_Non-Affirming.” Church Clarity is a database that scores church websites on how clearly they communicate their policies. The omission of these facts is the main problem we are interested in addressing.Īlthough Mosaic LA found in the SBC database, its denominational affiliation is curiously omitted from its website. Yesterday’s statement is in stark contrast with these publicly verifiable facts. “We oppose all cultural efforts to validate claims to transgender identity.” The SBC also has a clear policy on “ transgender identity”: “Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime.” The SBC has a very clear policy on marriage:.Mosaic LA was founded as and is listed as a current member of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).This statement is carefully worded in such a way that makes it highly likely to mislead the average person to assume that LGBTQ people can fully participate in the life and liturgy of the church without any restrictions. It cleverly frames the discussion in a way that limits the scope of inquiry exclusively to attendance, leaving out answers to questions around who can lead, who can get married, and so on. While it may be accurate to claim that anyone is “welcome” to attend a church service, this is a question nobody is asking. This statement is anything but clarifying. There are currently many people of varied race, color, ethnicity, economic status, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs who attend Mosaic.” (Bolded emphasis is ours). Mosaic is one of the most diverse communities that exists.
“ To be clear anyone and everyone is welcome at Mosaic. One of the largest churches in California and home to many Hollywood celebrities, Mosaic LA released a statement to defend its practices: Yesterday, Hypebeast published several reports by ex-attendees of Mosaic Los Angeles that detailed how the church ambiguously prevented queer volunteers from serving in leadership.
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