The surprise appearance by the country star is getting a lot of backlash from folks who are criticizing her Christianity.
One of the biggest religious conferences in the world, Passion is an annual event that was first started in the late 90s by famed pastor and author Louie Giglio. The conference was built as a way to encourage young adults (specifically college students) to join together under Jesus and, since its inception, has gained a massive following and spurred one of the most-recognized Christian movements to-date.
This year, during the Passion 2017 event, country superstar and Christian, Carrie Underwood made a surprise appearance during David Crowder’s musical set and sang her religious-themed chart topper, “Something In The Water”.
The crowd of more than 50,000 young adults hoot and hollered their excitement as Underwood took the stage and social media was soon filled with people exclaiming their happiness at seeing her perform during the event. Even Underwood herself talked about the event on Twitter.
What an incredible night @passion268 ! Thanks for letting me be a small part of it! & thanks @crowdermusic for letting me crash your set! ❤️
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) January 3, 2017
While tens of thousands of folks were excited to see her on stage, AZ Central reports that there was one outspoken critic who was extremely unhappy that she showed her face there.
Through a well-known Christian publication, Engage magazine, director of outreach for the American Family Organization, Wesley Wildmon published an open letter to Giglio, urging him to pick other artists who, he believes, align more closely with Christian views – specifically those of gay marriage.
“I was very frustrated that you would allow her to help lead thousands of people in worship. My frustration quickly turned to disappointment and then to sadness,” Wildmon began. “Carrie Underwood encourages and supports homosexual marriage, which the Word of God does not (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)…”
“With the many Christian artists who believe and teach the full counsel of God’s Word available to lead worship at Passion, why would you choose one who publicly states homosexuality is not a sin?” Wildmon continued in his letter published on Wednesday, December 4th. “It is God who has blessed you with this platform and it is God who can remove His hand of blessing if you become careless with His principles.”
This is not the first time that Carrie Underwood or her supporters have come under fire from various organizations for her support of gay marriage – and she’s also not the only major country music star to support gay marriage either.
Her 2012 statement in support of gay marriage was first published in UK news outlet, The Independent, and saw Underwood say, “As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love. I can’t imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to.”
After receiving immense backlash for the statement, she stood by her word through an interview the following year, adding, “Someone asked me a question, and I tried to give an honest answer. If someone won’t like me because of that, then maybe they were looking for a reason not to like me.”
Giglio has not issued a statement in response to Wildmon’s letter, however Giglio has spoken openly in the past to support controversial “ex-gay” therapy.
What do you think of his opinion and Carrie Underwood’s performance? Let us know in the comments.