RE: Rayback and The Well
The “Yes, homosexuality is a sin” statement was first published on The Well’s website shortly after it was recorded in Casey Middle School’s auditorium on Nov. 6, 2016 as part of a “Gospel Sexuality Panel.” The recording was available on the church’s website at the time the Daily Camera published the April 5, 2023 op-ed about The Well and the Rayback connection, but disappeared shortly after all the recent negative publicity started up.
Although The Well church has reorganized their website and re-posted many of their older sermon recordings (albeit conveniently without retaining the old links), they have not re-posted that sermon. When they do, it will be possible to show another link between certain Rayback founders and the church. So don’t hold your breath.
Numerous other Well sermons speak more generally about “sexual immorality” as a code phrase for LGBTQ relationships, or sex outside of marriage.
And yes, they are extremely anti-trans. Their pastor/elder Chase Davis recently said, “It is a fatal mistake to love your neighbor.” The context of this statement was what to do as a confused Christian when your neighbor is trans. Listen at minutes six through eight of their published sermon “City of God,” recorded Jan. 9, 2022 at the Rayback Collective. Davis is constantly railing against transgenderism, because it interferes with his notions derived from Genesis.
In a sermon, ironically titled “Peace with God,” recorded in Casey Middle School’s auditorium on May 20, 2018, Matt Patrick compared the vast majority of all Boulder folks who don’t subscribe to his religious beliefs as “terrorist cells in the kingdom of God.”
It’s not all metaphorical or theological fun and games. These pastors regularly mislead their audiences by claiming that everything they say is “reality.” If they kept it all to themselves and their flock, it wouldn’t matter so much. But unlike most other churches in Boulder, these guys publish their sermons for anyone in the world to listen to or watch on the internet, also known as the public square.
God help a gay or trans kid in a family brought up under this ugly, hateful and ignorant church’s tutelage. These pastors’ language is immoral because it leads to youth suicides. That the language is religiously motivated isn’t an excuse.
An online comment from Boulder Weekly reader under the username brainchild.
