Introducing 'The List:' A Resource for Those Who Want to Avoid Supporting Grace City Church
GCC's divisive, homophobic actions of late have prompted the creation of a resource for those who want to avoid spending money at GCC-affiliated businesses and supporting GCC candidates for office
For a long time I avoided putting out a list of Grace City Church-affiliated businesses. For years folks have asked me to. And for years I did not.
There are three reasons why I’m doing so now.
First, GCC leaders recently admitted that activism done to prevent rainbow diversity flags from being hung on city light poles in Wenatchee this Pride month was motivated by animus for the LGBTQIA+ community.
How do I know it was an action born of prejudice?
GCC leaders give it away on the website for GCC’s “Freedom Con: Rise of the Statesman,” where they praise the young man who beat the Equity Alliance folks to the punch with his application, Keyton Lawter. They admit his actions were done to intentionally deprive a historically marginalized minority group from a symbolic gesture of acceptance.
“More recently he (Lawter) has taken on the battle of replacing the gay pride flags typically flown along the streets of Wenatchee, with banners that celebrate the core of every community: family,” it reads.
They admit it was about intentionally “replacing” something important to a group of our neighbors, family members and friends because of the sexual preferences of the individuals in that group.
Why? Because the goal is to keep them marginalized. To send the message that they’re not really welcome here.
It’s the act of a bully.
And I think people deserve to know if they are spending their money at an establishment that supports bullies.
Second, GCC promotes the idea of “business as mission,” meaning you should donate money directly from your business(es) to the church. GCC leaders explain more in handout called “Creative Ways To Give.”
“If you’re a business owner, you could leverage the resources of your business to substantially increase your generosity impact. Simply take the biblical principles of tithing you practice with your personal checkbook and apply it to your business checkbook,” they write. “Many business owners at Grace City have made tithing a line-item in their expense budget as a way to leverage cash flow and commit their business to the Lord.”
That means GCC leaders are expecting business owners to donate at least 10% of their business’ gross income to GCC. For a cup of coffee that might be 12 cents, but for larger purchases like a $90,000 truck from Sangster Motors that’s thousands of dollars from one sale. I know many people in the valley would like to avoid putting any money in Josh McPherson’s pocket, and so this list will help many in that way.
Third, McPherson demands you give him “first fruits,” which means you prioritize your tithe to his church ahead of your bills, mortgage payment and even groceries. Former members have reported McPherson saying things like “Pay my bills!” and many saw the video of him admonishing his followers for being no better than “gay sex men” if they don’t give him money. It’s a predatory, exploitative way of pumping people for cash.
So what I’ve come up with is a list broken down into categories that include affiliated churches, businesses, political candidates, and law enforcement officers as well as businesses that donated to James’ campaign.
Most of the pastor’s donations came within 48 hours of him announcing he was running for the state legislature and McPherson urged everyone who attended that service to give at least $125. So it’s reasonable to assume that many of those donations came from members, or at the very least from folks who are ideologically aligned with James’ homophobic rhetoric and anti-public education agenda.