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Thursday December 14, 2006
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Pastor Speaks Out Against Gay-Marriage in Opening Invocation For NJ Senate Session
Senate President says the Pastor will not be invited back.
By Meg Jalsevac
TRENTON, New Jersey, December 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Reverend Vincent Fields, pastor of the non-denominational Greater Works Ministries in New Jersey, recently delivered the Senate opening-day invocation in which he spoke out against gay-marriage and asked the Lord to look over the Senate and its decisions that day.
Each New Jersey Senate session is opened with a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation given by a clergy member who is normally selected based on a recommendation from one of the lawmakers. The pastors are typically selected to represent the diverse number of religious groups in the state. Pastors receive $100 for offering the invocation.
Rev. Fields was recommended by an office staff member in the Secretary of State’s office. He had offered the invocation on another occasion in 2005.
Fields said that he did not intend to speak of “gay-marriage” in his invocation. Initially he started out praying for wisdom and understanding for the lawmakers. Then, he says, “The Holy Spirit took over, and I had to pray what he said.” Fields’ wife said to him afterwards, “You were being nice and tiptoeing and all of a sudden, Boom!”
Fields continued his invocation saying, "We curse the spirit that would come to bring about same-sex marriage. We ask you to just look over this place today, cause them to be shaken in their very heart in uprightness, Lord, to do what is right before you."
Fields’ invocation caused quite a stir around the Senate. Invocations are not supposed to be political or divisive according to Senate President Richard Codey.
Codey said that Fields had overstepped boundaries in his invocation and would not be invited back to offer an invocation in the future.
Some also found complaint with the fact that Fields used the name of Jesus twice in his invocation saying that made the invocation offensive to any non-Christians in the Senate membership.
Fields was unapologetic about his invocation saying, “We're living in a time now where we've got to take a stand spiritually. We're literally setting ourselves up for God to turn his back on us, and if we do, we'll have the chaos of other countries, in this country.”
When asked if he had any regrets about his invocation after hearing that he would not be invited back to the Senate, Fields said, “Not at all. It’s better to just get the voice across.”
The day that Rev. Fields offered his invocation was also the day that the New Jersey Senate committee succeeded in advancing a bill that would allow for civil unions for same-sex couples.
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