Sure Foundation Baptist Church member Stephen Falco (left); Church preacher Justin Zhong – Photos: Facebook Screenshots
A fundamentalist church in Indianapolis is defending a June 29 sermon in which a lay preacher urged congregants to pray for LGBTQ people to die and suggested they kill themselves.
The remarks, delivered by Stephen Falco during a “Men’s Preaching Night” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church, included multiple homophobic slurs, biblical references, and rants against Pride Month, LGBTQ rights, and what he called “disgusting” and “evil” behavior, according to TheIndianapolis Star.
“Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate f****ts? Because they attack children,” Falco ranted in the sermon, video of which was posted to Sure Foundation Baptist Church’s YouTube channel. “They’re coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools, in public places, and they’re proud about it!
“There’s nothing good to be proud about being a f****t,” Falco continued. “You ought to blow yourself in the head in the back of the head. You’re so disgusting.” He characterized LGBTQ people as a threat to children, implying they are pedophiles or seek to “groom” them.
The video has since been removed for violating YouTube’s terms of service.
The sermon drew criticism from the broader Indianapolis community, particularly from progressive individuals and organizations.
“Such messages are not only theologically irresponsible but pastorally dangerous,” the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a coalition of pastors and other concerned religious believers who fight against forms of injustice, racism, ageism, classism, and sexism, told WISH-TV. “The pulpit must never be used as a weapon to dehumanize, isolate, or incite fear.”
The organization countered Sure Foundation Baptist Church’s message with a Bible verse, stating that the Gospel is for everyone and rejects the idea that LGBTQ individuals are beyond God’s reach, grace, or redemption.
“True holiness is not about who we hate; it is about how we love,” the group’s statement read. “We affirm that sin exists in all of us, we also affirm that God’s grace extends to all of us.”
In a July 3 Facebook post, lead preacher Justin Zhong reaffirmed the church’s beliefs as reflected in Falco’s sermon.
“I will not apologize for preaching the Word of God,” Zhong wrote. “I will not apologize for stating facts. I will not negotiate with terrorists, among whom the LGBTHIV crowd is full of domestic terrorists. The Bible is crystal clear that sodomites (homosexuals) deserve the death penalty carried out by a government that actually cares about the law of God.”
He added that LGBTQ people would not be allowed at church services, accusing critics of abandoning biblical values and praising his church for “protecting children from predators.”
The church also responded to a request for comment from WISH-TV, insisting that Falco was calling only for LGBTQ people to die by suicide or be executed by the government — not for vigilante violence.
“He’s only calling for the death penalty and suicide for the actual sodomites (homosexuals),” the church said in an emailed statement. “The Bible teaches that those people are worthy of death. They are supposed to be executed by the government. We are not to take the law into our own hands.”
Another church member, identified as “Brother Wayne” in a video on Sure Foundation’s YouTube channel, gave a sermon titled “Worthy of Being Beaten,” blaming society’s problems on a lack of discipline. He called for corporal punishment against LGBTQ people, saying they should be “put to death.”
“I think they should be beaten in public first for all their sick and demented, just f****try and the things they’re doing to our schools, to our government, to our institutions, to our churches,” he said. “These people should be beaten and stomped in the mud, and then they should take a gun and blow the back of their heads off.”
G. David Caudill, executive director of the LGBTQ rights group Equality Indiana, called the church’s message inflammatory and dangerous, warning it could incite violence despite the church’s claims that it opposes vigilantism.
“It does put my radar up,” Caudill told the Star. “We have to be more vigilant and protect ourselves. When you have that type of hateful and violent language, it could lead to someone feeling empowered to commit violent acts against our community.”
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