Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands,Charlie Kirk,Turning Point USA, THE Cancel Culture

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the school board was not offering the schools for free; the church was paying rent. Let me add that the people in that church are paying taxes to the school district and rent to use the space.

The Housing Authority of the Birmingham District and the Birmingham Board of Education also just cut ties with Church of the Highlands because Chris liked those social media posts.

But, the school district does not want the money and the housing authority does not want their service to the poor.

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Here is a church that wants to serve—and has served—and is leading the way in its community. Unfortunately, as of this writing, “The Housing Authority of Birmingham Division voted on Monday to no longer allow church volunteers and clinic workers to do work at public housing communities.”

They want to cancel the church’s ministry to the poor because they did not like the pastor’s social media likes?

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Charlie Kirk, the conservative leader of Turning Point USA. Kirk is an outspoken supporter of President Trump and has been at the center of several high profile conflicts over the past few years. Like many other social media figures, Kirk seems particularly skilled at provoking outpourings of admiration and disdain in equal measure. He knows how to use social media.

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Kirk represents a significant number of Americans, many of whom identify as evangelical.

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This controversy soon invovled Chris Hodges, the pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, when he liked some of Kirk’s social media posts

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Hodges was a Trump supporter. He has also led his church to be the largest diverse church in Alabama, to engage the poor and marginalized, and to minister widely and well in his community. He and the church he leads has served the poor, engaged the sick, volunteered in the schools, and more. During the pandemic, Church of the Highlands has served thousands of meals, made masks, hosted blood drives, and helped other churches with online services.

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He also liked some social media posts. LINK

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“As a pastor and, more importantly, as a follower of Jesus, I work to consider every action carefully, weigh every word, and be respectful of every person and opinion, as Christ taught.

I realize that I have hurt people that I love deeply because I ‘liked’ multiple insensitive social media posts. Each one was a mistake. I own it. I’m sorry. . . .

Over the last 20 years, our church and I have fought for the disenfranchised, marginalized, and hurting of ALL races in our community. But this week, I’ve learned that even with 20 years of loving and serving people, it’s still possible to have a blind spot that you just didn’t know was there.

I realize it is my responsibility to have more conversations to become better aware of the pain and the hurt, and to understand ALL people better.

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