Mt. Calvary Holy Church
Washington, D.C.

Bishop Alfred Owens and Suzie Owens, senior pastors

Back in 2006, sound bytes stripped from a sermon leaked from the mouth of senior pastor Alfred Owens poking fun at gay men: “It takes a real man to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. I’m not talking about no faggot or no sissy. Wait a minute! Let all the real men come on down here and take a bow.” He continues, as men walked to the front of the church showing off their latest masculine struts: “All the real men – I’m talking about the straight men. You ain’t funny and you ain’t cranky, but you’re straight. Come on down here and walk around and praise God that you are straight.”

In 2010, Jon Mack and Michael Garrett – a black gay couple who were members at the church for a year – expressed their disapproval of the church to Washington Blade after walking out of the church after Alfred Owens expressed his displeasure of same-sex marriage. “Sex is only pleasing to God in the marriage bed, and the marriage bed is a man and a woman!,” he declared from the pulpit. “During this homophobic rant, me and my partner got up and walked out,” said Mack. Suzie Owens, the church’s co-pastor, is also known in the black church community for using the words “sissy” and “faggot” in reference to homosexuals.