The recent headlines about gay teen suicides have sparked something rather remarkable: A Georgia megachurch pastor recently outed himself to his congregation.
Jim Swilley -- the pastor of the Church in the Now in Conyers, Ga. -- made the shocking revelation that he is gay two weeks ago. But the news only became more widely known when an Atlanta news station, WSB-TV, sat down for an interview with him.
Swilley recently divorced the church's onetime associate pastor, Debye, but he had informed her in the early days of their 21-year relationship that he was gay, he told WSB-TV. Nevertheless, he says, they remained a couple, keeping the secret to themselves.
But as Swilley explained in the interview, Debye recently convinced him that it was time for him to stop living a lie--so they divorced and he shared his secret with their four children.
When he began hearing about gay teens committing suicide, he felt that it was time to do likewise with his flock, he said.
"As a father, think about your 16-, 17-year-old killing themselves. I thought somebody needed to say something," he told WSB-TV. "You know, I know all the hateful stuff that's being written about me online -- whatever. To think about saving a teenager, yeah, I'll risk my reputation for that."
You can watch the video of the WSB-TV interview below:
Unlike many religious leaders who've been involuntarily outed as gay men, Swilley has never condemned homosexual lifestyles from the pulpit. And while Swilley says some religious leaders have attacked him for acknowledging his gay identity, other commentators have hailed Swilley as a "Christian hero." As for his own view, Swilley says that if his revelation leads to a mass exodus out of his church, so be it; he'll just pick up the pieces and start over somewhere else.