Boy expelled from local church after finding the courage to come out

A young man in Arkansas has been expelled from his local church after he finally plucked up the courage to come out.

Dylan Settles had been a member of the Woods Chapel General Baptist Church in Brookland for the past six years, and came out to his parents three months ago after struggling with his sexuality for years.

Last weekend (October 11) Dylan shared a letter he had received from the church to his Facebook page. In the letter, which has been shared over 2,500 times in just two days, senior members of the church say the congragation has voted to remove him because of his decision “to embrace the homosexual lifestyle”. The post has since been shared more than 2,500 times.

“I just got this letter in the mail from a place I called my home church… u will never see my face in that church again. all because of my sexual life,” Dylan wrote.

The letter reads:

It has come to the attention of the Church body, that you have made it known publicly, of your choice to embrace the homosexual lifestyle. While we understand the struggles we all face with sin in our lives, we must be aware of the consequences of our choices. As a Christian we must choose to serve and obey, in accordance with God’s holy word, in order to remain a member in good standing of the Church body. We as the church board here at Woods Chapel General Baptist Church, have with great sorrow, voted to remove your name immediately from the church membership role. It is the desire of your church family, you would turn from the sinful lifestyle you have chosen, repent of the sins you have committed, and return to full fellowship with God and the church body.

“I’m a little hurt by it, but I know how they feel,” Dylan told Arkansas Matters.

“I was tired of living for somebody else… living for my parents or my friends or whoever,” he added. “I kind of just chose to live for what I wanted and be happy.”

He continued: “I don’t feel comfortable sitting at pew or sitting beside my parents when all I’m going to see is people pointing their fingers at me because of the lifestyle I chose.”

The pastor of Woods Chapel General Baptist Church and several members of the congregation have refused to comment on the incident.

Writing again on Facebook, Dylan wrote: “I want to thank everyone for helping me share my story. After the hundreds of messages, to thousands of shares, and over 300 friend requests, I couldn’t reply to everyone! I am truly thankful to have a community that has reach out to me of my time of grief.”

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