Bishop Eddie Long Had Boys From LongFellows Youth Academy Carry Sex Self-Check Cards; Long Will Address New Birth Missionary Baptist Congregation Twice Sunday, Archbishop Of Canterbury Says Previous Posture Opposing Openly Gay Clergy An Untruth

The Associated Press reporting that New Birth Missionary Baptist Bishop Eddie Long, accused by four young men of sexual coercion, used a program at the LongFellows Youth Academy as a “rite of passage,” teaching the boys about interest rates, Social Security, and sexual control, demanding that they carry a card listing three things they could do instead of have sex. The Academy trains an estimated 100 students during a four month session for $500 per person, Long and a board of advisers including Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis creating a daunting program meant to act as an exercising of the mind and body, as well as taking a vow of sexual purity, the young men carrying a “SEX Self-Check Card” at all times listing their vision for life, a favourite scripture, and “3 thing you could be doing instead of having sex.” In a promotional video since removed after the lawsuits were filed, Long states “Our methodology here at LongFellows is to invade and bring about a culture with these young men that they start believing in a standard that they have something that they hold to, that they never give up or never give in, do the things that they are ordained to do.” Long, through attorneys, has steadfastly denied all allegations, and will address the congregation at NBMB Sunday, twice, with additional security being brought in.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams tells the Times of London, according to the Guardian that his previous opposition to openly gay clergy was in fact an assumed conservative stance meant at the time to protect the Anglican Church, and neither an accurate nor truthful presentation of his personal view, telling the Times “I think if I were to say my job was not to be true to myself that might suggest that my job required me to be dishonest and if that were the case then I’d be really worried. I am not elected on a manifesto to further this agenda or that. I have to be someone who holds the reins for the whole debate. To put it very simply, there’s no problem about a gay person who’s a bishop. It’s about the fact that there are traditionally, historically, standards that the clergy are expected to observe. So there’s a question about the personal life of the clergy.”