UK street evangelist charged with public order offense after preaching on homosexuality
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A UK Christian street preacher charged with a Public Order offense for telling a same-sex married couple that their union is against the Bible’s teaching has had his case dropped after the couple refused to engage with it, Christian Concern (CC) reports.
John Dunn, a street preacher for 15 years in Swindon, England, was summoned by police and interviewed for alleged homophobia while preaching in the city center in November 2020, CC said. The case had arisen after police received a complaint from two women who claimed Dunn told them their marriage was immoral.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service took up the case, and Dunn was charged under the Public Order Act because the prosecution said: “There are references in the Bible which are simply no longer appropriate in modern society and which would be deemed offensive if stated in public.”
Nevertheless, the case was dismissed on November 13 by the Swindon Magistrates Court as the two women declined to follow up their complaint to trial, CC said.
In a statement after the charge was dropped, Dunn said: “When I preach, I only ever say what is in the Bible. When they told me they were in a same-sex marriage, I was concerned for them. I had to communicate the consequences of their actions based on what the Bible says. I wanted to warn them, not out of condemnation, but out of love. I wanted them to know that there is forgiveness through the love of Jesus.”
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