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Syracuse University will stop Radiant Church from holding church services at the Drumlins Country Club, an SU spokesperson told The Daily Orange Monday afternoon.

Radiant Church, which has made homophobic comments while speaking with syracuse.com, had been meeting at Drumlins, which SU owns, on Sundays since July 2023.

“We have notified the Radiant Church that they are not allowed to host their services on Syracuse University property. We are taking the necessary action to ensure groups requesting use of our property are properly vetted prior to being given permission to gather on our campus and at our facilities,” the statement read.

The church services were held in the club’s ballroom. The church met at Drumlins this past Sunday, The D.O. confirmed. The D.O. first requested comment from SU early Sunday afternoon. Although the church has anti-LGBTQ+ positions, it is unclear if those beliefs have been preached at Drumlins.

Syracuse.com reported that Radiant Church’s pastor, Jason Lankford, has stated that the church excludes people from membership if they don’t believe that homosexuality is a “sin.”

“If you go, ‘No I don’t believe it’s a sin’, would that keep you from membership at Radiant? Yes. But so would many other things,” Lankford told syracuse.com.

The church is part of the Iowa-based Salt Network, a group of evangelical churches in college areas that all have college outreach ministry programs.

“Syracuse University condemns bigotry of all forms. The University is home to 27 religious and spiritual life groups and prides itself on offering diverse opportunities that align with our deeply held values of respect and inclusion,” the spokesperson wrote.

Before Radiant Church began meeting at Drumlins in July, it met at Nottingham High School, part of the Syracuse City School District, from January to June of 2023.

While the church met at Nottingham, parents voiced concerns about the church meeting in the public high school, saying the church’s goal of sharing its values and its anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments went against the school district’s values of welcoming and inclusion.

The teacher’s union at Nottingham called for the end of the district’s arrangement with Radiant after a story was published by syracuse.com highlighting the issue of Radiant’s beliefs regarding LGBTQ+ people. The board also began a review of its building-use policy, according to syracuse.com, establishing that anybody who wishes to use the school building must adhere to the code of conduct for the district, which emphasizes inclusion.

Published on September 18, 2023 at 2:08 pm

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu