Memphis, TN – The Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP), a group of leading black clergy, will host a press conference in Houston coinciding with the NAACP’s national convention on Thursday to protest the organization’s recent support for same-sex marriage. CAAP has launched a marriage petition.
“The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People needs to be recalled to its founding purpose,” said Rev. William Owens, President of CAAP. “Black people face acute and urgent needs, from unemployment to education, family fragmentation, discrimination and crime.
“We are calling on the NAACP, a beloved organization in our eyes, to reclaim its mission. The Black church founded the NAACP, and it is not the organization for the advancement of gays and lesbians–whatever the merits of that movement. Return to your roots and stand with the Black Church on marriage. The Black Church in our eyes remains the conscience of America.
“To the board of NAACP we say, ‘Do not worry about the money, God will provide.’ Stand with the Church and the Bible and the natural law, as our brother with whom we marched, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., called on us to do.”
WHAT: Press conference of black pastors to challenge NAACP’s support of same-sex marriage
WHEN: Thursday, July 11, 2012
12:30 PM (CST)
WHERE: Four Seasons Hotel, Clearlake Room
1300 Lamar Street
Houston, TX
WHO: Rev. William Owens, President and Founder, CAAP
The Coalition of African-American Pastors is a grass-roots movement of African-American Christians who believe in traditional family values such as supporting the role of religion in American public life, protecting the lives of the unborn and defending the sacred institution of marriage.
For further information, please contact Jameson Cunningham with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at (703) 739-5920 or (800) 536-5920.
