{"id":14095,"date":"2025-06-25T17:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14095\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:42:09","slug":"point-lomas-first-church-of-the-nazarene-working-its-way-back-from-controversy-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14095\/","title":{"rendered":"Point Loma\u2019s First Church of the Nazarene working its way back from controversy \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

After longtime pastor Selden \u201cDee\u201d Kelley was removed in August 2023 in a dispute over his support for LGBTQ+ inclusion, the congregation at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene<\/a> in Point Loma shrank dramatically \u2014 from more than 300 members to just over 100.<\/p>\n

Nearly two years later, church leaders say attendance is beginning to rebound as they work to restore unity in a community divided by the controversy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost people because they were so disgusted with the overall leadership of our denomination,\u201d said Dean Nelson, director of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University and a longtime local church congregant and a member of its board.<\/p>\n

Kelley, who led the church for 17 years, was removed<\/a> by the Southern California District leadership of Church of the Nazarene after a denominational trial found him \u201cin violation of denominational clergy standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

The allegation, which came after a complaint was filed by a group of church elders outside the First Church congregation, stemmed from a brief essay he wrote advocating a more inclusive stance on LGBTQ+ issues \u2014 a position at odds with the denomination\u2019s official doctrine, which defines marriage strictly as between a man and a woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this happened simply because I wrote a 2\u00bd-page article,\u201d Kelley said.<\/p>\n

The essay, titled \u201cA Hope for Change,\u201d was among 90 submissions that appeared in the book \u201cWhy the Church of the Nazarene Should Be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming,\u201d<\/a> edited by theologian Thomas Jay Oord. In it, Kelley urged the denomination to adopt a more inclusive view of same-sex relationships and human sexuality.<\/p>\n

\"SeldenSelden \u201cDee\u201d Kelley, former pastor at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene in Point Loma, is pictured in December 2023. (Alejandro Tamayo \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n

According to Nelson, the ruling against Kelley contrasted with the values of the local congregation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would describe [the First Church congregation] as loving,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cThey\u2019re not satisfied with easy answers and aren\u2019t afraid to engage with complex issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur pastor made a very innocuous request to say \u2018We really ought to be thinking and talking about the gay issue in a healthier way.\u2019 \u2026 The majority of congregants agreed with Kelley\u2019s position on this social issue. While there were dissenting opinions, this wasn\u2019t something they wanted to leave the church over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelley agreed.\u00a0\u201cIt was a congregation that held very diverse theological, political and social viewpoints, but the value of community and the common mission of lifting Christ made it a place I would have attended even if I wasn\u2019t the pastor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPastor Dee is a model of servant leadership,\u201d said Scott McGowan, who has attended First Church of the Nazarene regularly since 2018 with his wife and their children. \u201cI don\u2019t personally know a single person who expressed otherwise or thought he should lose his ordination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelley\u2019s removal and the fallout caused significant division, with many longtime parishioners distancing themselves from the church.<\/p>\n

Since James Kinzler was named pastor in August 2024, the church has seen some recovery, with attendance growing back to about 200 members.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing the church and getting back to its former size is less a priority than restoring a sense of unity and mission and church health,\u201d Kinzler said.<\/p>\n

McGowan said he and his family stayed because of the church\u2019s board and community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a core community here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were [determined] to stay in the struggle, support the Kelleys, be a church family. We see what happened as deeply unjust, but we are blessed to be part of this next chapter of a loving community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s 2024 Christmas program, which featured more than 100 children from the greater Point Loma community in the choir, brought renewed optimism, and the upcoming Vacation Bible School from Monday through Friday, July 21-25, is expected to have a high turnout of children from Point Loma and Ocean Beach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeekly attendance during and after Dee\u2019s trial was a bit lower, but Kinzler\u2019s first Sunday was a packed house and attendance has seemed to remain strong since,\u201d McGowan said.<\/p>\n

Kinzler said he doesn\u2019t think the Kelley controversy is casting a shadow on the church, \u201cbut it\u2019s a part of our story. I\u2019ve tried, and our church board has tried, to be very transparent. How do we become more the community that God is calling us to be with this reality of what we\u2019ve been?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kinzler has a long association with First Church of the Nazarene. His father was interim pastor before Kelley\u2019s arrival, and his parents attended services for years, often making the drive from their home in Temecula.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat remains striking to me is somebody asked [Kinzler during the hiring process] \u2018Why do you want to come with everything that has gone on?\u2019\u201d recalled Debbie Holly, a congregant since 1976 and a church board member. \u201cHe said \u2018I know what you\u2019ve been through and I believe there are wonderful days ahead and this church can come out of this situation stronger and better.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho we have as a pastor now is very much in the spirit of Dee Kelley,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n

Still, questions linger for current and former members about the future of their faith community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody who\u2019s got gay friends or relatives, you don\u2019t want to look like you\u2019re supporting the dumb positions the [district] leadership has taken,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cDo I stay because this is where my well has been dug? Or do I leave in solidarity with my gay brothers and sisters?\u201d<\/p>\n

The division in First Church of the Nazarene mirrors broader debates over LGBTQ+ inclusion in other denominations, such as the 2022 split within United Methodist Church, which led to the creation of the more conservative Global Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

The First Church board discussed and ultimately decided against pursuing a similar split.<\/p>\n

Kelley is no longer a full-time pastor but has remained involved in the greater Nazarene community as a writer and speaker. He also conducts dream interpretation sessions and workshops for individuals and groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support anyone who feels their worship and community experience should be congruent with their internal compass of how things ought to be,\u201d Kelley said. \u201cBringing about change that moves people toward a better expression of love \u2014 wouldn\u2019t it be nice if you had the opportunity to do that in the context where change would make a difference? It\u2019s why I stayed within the Nazarene church. I felt I had a stronger voice within.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After longtime pastor Selden \u201cDee\u201d Kelley was removed in August 2023 in a dispute over his support for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,14524,14525,3549,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-14095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-point-loma-ob-monthly","12":"tag-point-loma-ob-monthly-news","13":"tag-san-diego","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114745242061158911","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}