Minister offering to ‘save’ LGBTQs from Hell at Pride parade

A baptist minister reckons he’ll be curing people of homosexuality during Derry’s Foyle Pride parade today.

Pastor Mark Bradfield of the Bethel Baptist Church says homosexuality can “shave 10 years off a life” and is offering to help anyone who wants to be “saved” from an eternity in Hell.

He told Belfast Live: “Our church members and supporters will be at the railway station on Saturday during the Pride march. We are calling it a Gospel Rally. It will be an invitation to repent of your sins and get saved.

“We know there will be a lot of souls in one place involved in what the Bible says are one of the greatest acts of rebellion against God. I would love for people to immediately realise they had to be saved on Saturday. Anyone who is not saved is going to hell.”

Claiming to “love the sinner but hate the sin”, he added: “I can’t change gay people. All I can do is ask them if they realise they are sinners. God can save them from being sinners. God can take their desire from them. God can do anything. If they want to come to me to hear the gospel, they are welcome.

“It is between them and God if they want to be saved.”

Unsurprisingly (and understandably), the Foyle Pride Festival bosses are less than impressed with the Pastor’s comments. Spokesman Sha Gillespie said: “When you look at the rate of suicide among young gay people you realise comments like this are extremely damaging.”

Pride celebrations are also taking place today in Cornwall, Kent, Walsall and Manchester, with ongoing events across the pond in Nevada and Canada, and in Ireland’s Limerick.