Grace City Church Pastor Calls Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Demonic 'Heresy'

And explains why there's 'prophetic edge' to mocking 'godless foolery' after comparing a trans woman to a dog in a 'cat competition'

Grace City Church Executive Pastor Josh McPherson spent the last two Sundays preaching against diversity, equity and inclusion from the pulpit of GCC’s compound in the Sunnyslope neighborhood of Wenatchee, Wa.

He started things off by mocking Alba Rueda, an Argentine politician. Rueda was among 11 women given an International Women of Courage award at the White House earlier this month, although McPherson made it seem as if she was the only person who received the honor.

“This guy Alba Rueda, who is an Argentinian political activist, got invited to the White House by your president and mine,” McPherson said. “And he got invited there to celebrate International Women’s Day, because this 250-pound dude was given the Most Courageous Woman Award by the First Lady of the United States.”

Nothing says “you suck” to women like giving your award to a man, McPherson said.

McPherson’s church currently holds the jail chaplaincy contract for the Chelan Douglas Regional Justice Center. Questions about chaplain policies regarding inmates identifying as trans have gone unanswered by GCC.

McPherson drove home the point that Rueda didn’t belong among this year’s honorees with a joke about his nomination for “cat of the year.”

“I’ve already submitted it to The White House, and this is my submittal,” he said.

He then put up a photo of a dog on the projector. The crowd laughed, hooted, clapped.

Making a meal of it, McPherson flashed a few other dog photos onscreen before addressing the cognitive dissonance some Christians might feel while watching a pastor make fun of people from the pulpit.

“And you’re like: ‘It’s not very nice to make fun of people. That’s not very Christian, is it?’” he said. “It is if they’re idiots. If they’re foolish.”

There’s a “prophetic edge” to mocking “godless foolery” he said.

Then he moved on to the real topic of hand, DEI.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion has become the unholy trinity and the doctrinal foundation of the new state religion of wokeism,” McPherson said.

Again he employed the rhetorical device of saying out loud what he thinks the audience is thinking.

“Now again you’re saying: ‘Is this sermon getting more political, more cultural?’” he asked. “No, no, no! Understand, politics are getting theological, ok? So politics and sociology and culture and the whole thing, they’re moving into theological lanes.”

There’s an “evangelical zeal” that “they” have in promoting and pushing the agenda of diversity, equity and inclusion, he said. It’s never fully explained who “they” is, but it includes those in “corporate America,” higher education and public schools, or “government schools” as McPherson refers to them.

There are “good impulses” behind DEI policies, he said, but after reading “about 50” higher-ed DEI policies the night before he became too sick to his stomach to go on.

He read a line from the University of Michigan’s policy that stated the institution’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is a core value.

“This isn’t just appeasing the woke mob. This is a full embrace of, an immersion in, not the biblical definitions of diversity, equity and inclusion, but the demonic counterfeit and the delusional wokeism worldview that those three buzzwords represent,” he said.

Arguments are “won or lost” by “categorical definitions” and it’s not true that these universities are actually committed to diversity, McPherson said. According to him, they’re committed to diversity as long as it doesn’t include Judeo-Christian worldviews.

“Let’s not be gaslit by what’s happening. They’re open to every idea out there except the Jesus idea, okay? So that’s their definition of diversity,” he said. “Notice how they include objective categories that we would all 100 percent get on board with subjective categories that the bible would have serious problems with and they put them together.”

When it comes to equity and challenging bias, harassment and discrimination, McPherson called that “a total crock because this worldview actually creates bias.”

According to McPherson, DEI policies inflict bias and are relentlessly discriminating against Christians.

“The impulse is ‘let’s eliminate systemic racism.’ The irony is systemic racism did not exist in the United States until it was codified into the system by wokeism doctrine,” he said.

He continued to read through the University of Michigan’s boilerplate DEI statement until he came to the word “disability.” One of McPherson’s children is disabled.

“‘We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and do not discriminate against on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, disability’ – see what they did there?” he asked. “They put the Argentinian dude who just won the most courageous woman award next to my daughter in a wheelchair. That bothers me. That’s an insult to disabled people. It’s an insult to women. Where are the feminists when you need them?”

You can watch the entire sermon here:

The entire thing is more than two-hours long and was split into two Sundays worth of preaching. Part 2 is also on GCC’s YouTube channel.

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Why It Matters

If McPherson’s church didn’t have a contract to minister to inmates at the Chelan-Douglas Regional Justice Center, this sort of speech from local pastor wouldn’t be as newsworthy as it is. But GCC does have the contact, and leaders set the tone (as former Chelan County Sheriff Brian Burnett liked to say).

I’m curious how this tone, struck by the leader of GCC, trickles down into how his subordinates approach ministering to some of the most vulnerable people in the region. I’m also curious how GCC chaplains approach ministering to any inmate who doesn’t identify as cis-gendered and straight.

I have reached out to Chelan County Commissioners about this issue, but haven’t received satisfactory answers to my questions. I’ve also reached out to GCC, but as usual they did not respond. I’ll keep trying, though, and plan to reach out to the jail administrator next. My final story about GCC’s impact on the Wenatchee Valley isn’t finished yet, and this is one of the last pieces out there I want to put into place.