Images depicting Christ and the angels peered down from a stained glass window behind Jeffrey Barnes on Wednesday night at the High Street United Methodist Church while he performed his monologue "Remember Who Made You."
The piece explored the struggle with sexual identity and who exactly could be called a Christian.
Campus minister Ken Puent said the subject was the hottest political button in the United Methodist Church today, threatening to split the Church in two.
"Our issue is really around the question, 'Is homosexuality a sin?'" Puent said. "We want to take it off that question."
Puent said many people in his church were leaning towards a mindset he called "hospitality."
"What we want to do hospitality here," he said. "We want to involve GLBT people in embracing their ministry. That's what hospitality is all about."
Barnes began his performance behind the pulpit preaching hellfire and the perils awaiting the gay soul.
"It's an abomination," he said. "We all know how God punished Sodom and Gamorrah for their disgusting behavior."
Later, Barnes, as the preacher, stepped away from the pulpit and exposed his doubts on the subject. Recalling a lesbian couple whom he respected, he pleaded with his maker.
"God, why didn't seminary train me for this?" Barnes said.
The performer said his own church, Broadway United Methodist in Indianapolis, is progressive in its thinking. The church is about 50 percent gay, 50 percent straight and is known throughout the city as a gay-friendly place of worship, said Barnes, who identifies himself as bisexual.
Barnes concluded the monologue by taking on the role of Christ. Barnes said the Christian gospel was ultimately one of compassion and acceptance.
"I tell you to love," he said. "But I don't restrict who it is you can love."
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