Gay man in Keys crosses church’s barriers

Gay man in Keys crosses church’s barriers

By Jennifer BabsonKEY WEST — On a breezy Sunday afternoon last week, 150 people of various denominations took inspiration from a Bible verse uttered centuries before by another religious renegade.

« If God be for us, who can be against us? » asked Martin Luther. That resolve was reproduced on the cover of a nine-page program commemorating the installation of Arlo David Peterson as pastor of Key West’s Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

With those words, Holy Trinity’s parishioners made history — defying church hierarchy to become the first Lutheran congregation in Florida to install a noncelibate, gay pastor.