Luke Ash, the bi-vocational pastor of Stevendale Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, was recently fired from his weekday job, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, for refusing to use preferred pronouns.
Speaking to Washington Watch on Tuesday, Dr. Lewis Richerson, who is the leader of the group of pastors endeavoring to have Ash reinstated, explained why he got involved in this situation.
"It’s another opportunity to clearly articulate the truths of God's word, and one of the things I appreciated about Pastor Luke from the very beginning was his heart. He was really unsure about some of these political conversations, but in his text messages to me and in his verbal conversations with me, he was always bringing it back to the gospel. We have an opportunity to make Christ known and make much of Christ and to glorify God, and I appreciate that,” said Richerson, who is the pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in St. George, a Baton Rouge suburb.
Richerson and his group attempted to address Ash's situation with the library in one of its public meetings, but the library officials would not let them do so.
"We emailed the library as I said in my statement. We've heard absolutely nothing from them other than the response that they gave us Thursday at the board meeting. But I went into that conversation with the conviction I was going to finish my statement and regardless of how they responded, I would not respond in like manner. I drew that inspiration and encouragement from scripture to do exactly those things: state the truth of God's Word and do so kindly."
When asked if this issue would go away, Richerson was clear. It will not, as far as he's concerned.
"It's not going to go away for me until the two things we demanded are met: reinstate pastor Ash and change your policy. I will not be quiet, and I will not lead my church to be quiet."
