*The prominent Chicago pastor has come under fire for kicking a cross-dressing male out of his church Sunday night.
Pastor Antonio Rocquemore of Power House International Ministries is speaking out about the incident after advocates of the LGBTQ came for his head.
In response, Rocquemore said the male member had been repeatedly warned that he would not be allowed to dress like a female during service.
As reported by christianpost.com, a clip showing Rocquemore rebuking the church member was first highlighted by Christian James Lhuillier.
“Some of y’all are going to have to excuse my language but I am tired of this sh*t. In a place that is supposed to be a place of change, a place of deliverance, whatever you want to call it why would you destroy someone in front of a room full of people?” Lhuillier asked.
“This is the kind of bullsh*t that causes people to go home and commit suicide. Sh*t like this is the reason that the church has no power in 2018 because they are so worried about the wrong things. I know drag queens and transsexuals that can pray you out of sickness faster and some of these preachers that collect your love offerings every Sunday,” he continued.
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“I would have turned that church clean out do you hear me!!!!!!!!! It’s time for us to stand up for what we believe and stand in our truth and walk away from these ministries that bash who we are. Too many illegitimate relationships have been created trying to conform to a mold you were never meant to fit. I have a great deal of respect for the house of God. But I wish upon wishes upon wishes that had been me. The city of Chicago would never forget my name!” Lhuillier ended.
In the complete recording of the service on the church’s Facebook page, Rocquemore warns his members to guard their minds before calling out the drag queen.
“Can you leave my church and go put on man clothes?” he asked firmly.
“And don’t come here like that no more,” he continued as someone can be heard in the video declaring “thank you Jesus!”
“I hold a standard in here. Whatever you do on the outside is your business, but I will not let drag queens come in here. And if you’re gonna come in here you’re gonna come in here dressed like a man …. If you’re a man, dress like a man. If you’re a woman, dress like a woman. I’m not going to allow it. My salvation is more important and God is holding me accountable,” he added. “… you will not be wearing weaves and heels and fooling people up in here.”
In a follow-up response to the criticism, the pastor explained that the young man has been a church member for several months and had expressed a desire to embrace his manhood. He said the church had also been working privately with him and warned him several times that he couldn’t “dress like a female” during worship, the report states.
“He was not put out the church because he was gay. First of all I don’t bash nothing. I don’t separate sin. Sin is sin. There is no need to bash one or the other if you’re preaching the word,” Rocquemore said.
“… When you join my church, all the rules and regulations is told to you then. If you ever slip up [on the rules] we would still take you privately and go over them again. This particular situation, this young man was told several times in private. I went to him personally myself,” the pastor said.
On that Sunday night, when he challenged the pastor during service, Rocquemore said he had no choice but to rebuke him publicly.
“He challenged me publicly and I challenged him back publicly. I asked the young man to leave. There was no security taking him out … sir can you please change clothes,” he said.
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