While covering the event, I discovered that Jay Bakker, the son of televangelists Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, was a scheduled speaker.

As I indicated in an earlier column, I was surprised he was involved, especially considering his mother’s connections with the LGBT community and the fact he runs a ministry of his own in Atlanta that boasts gay, lesbian and transgender individuals in the congregation.

A week or so later Bakker called me back to talk about why he was planning on speaking in Asheville.

“I think what the church has done to the gay community is horrible and wrong. There will be people there because they don’t think God wants them to be gay. And then there are others who think this is their last chance. I don’t want them to think this is their last chance. God’s going to love them no matter if they’re straight or gay.”

Bakker had the best of intentions when it came to speaking to this crowd. He wanted them to know God loved them no matter what. He also knew that by speaking with Q-Notes there was a good possibility that Exodus would cancel his appearance.

They did exactly that.

Somewhere along the way somebody at Exodus stumbled across a copy of our story and called Bakker on the floor for his comments.

“I was asked not to speak because of what I had said in Q-Notes,” Bakker confirmed. “They weren’t very happy about it.

“They never asked me what my thoughts or feelings on homosexuality actually were. So when they asked me after the fact, ‘do you think it’s a sin?’ I had to tell them what I felt. I told them I was leaning towards no on that and we apparently didn’t see things from the same perspective.”

I was curious about what Exodus and their representatives might actually have to say to the press about canning Bakker, so I called their office in Orlando, Fla.

I have to admit — I was a little surprised. After leaving a message on voicemail I received a prompt and perky response (lots of exclamation points!) from Julie Neils, director of media relations at Exodus. She forwarded to me a statement from Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International:

“Upon learning of some theological differences regarding the issue of homosexuality, we have chosen to pursue other speaker options at our national conference and Youth Day event,” Chambers wrote.

“We share Mr. Bakker’s belief that the evangelical church has oftentimes failed to reach out to young people who feel unwelcome and abandoned; many of us as former homosexuals have experienced this same rejection and isolation.

“We share his hope that the church will embrace a grace-filled and compassionate approach and we share his mission to demonstrate Christ’s compassion and mercy by putting an arm around struggling youth. We applaud Mr. Bakker’s work and continue to hold him in highest respect.”

Hmmmmmmmm.

Nice words. Not sure they carry too much weight, though, especially when you have heretics like Jerry Falwell to countermand all that sugar coating. According to a report carried by multiple publications and websites, Falwell endorsed forcing gay kids into counseling designed to change their sexual orientation and compared allowing a child to identify as gay with allowing children to play on the interstate. He also dismissed psychologists’ claims that consent is fundamental to a healthy counseling relationship and that parents should not force their gay kids into therapy.

So where’s all that grace-filled compassion? Coming from Falwell — as usual — it sounds like fiery, hate-filled rhetoric.