On Saturday, as hundreds of people gathered at New Hope Ministries to mourn the death of Vanessa Collier, the minister conducting the ceremony suddenly stopped.
He said the services could not continue as long as pictures of Collier and her wife, with whom she shared two children, were displayed, according to the Denver Post.
After an hour-long viewing of the body and fifteen minutes into the service, the outraged and humiliated friends gathered up flowers, programs, and the casket and moved across the street to a mortuary to conduct the rest of the service.
“A church turning away a funeral. Who has ever heard of anything like that happening?” said Jeanette Arguello, a friend.
After word spread of the pastor, Ray Chavez, and his actions, dozens of protesters showed up outside the church on Tuesday to voice their displeasure, chanting things like “Give us an apology!” and “Shame on Pastor Ray!” They also held signs that said, “You will not find Jesus at New Hope but you will find hypocrisy,” and, “Indignity in death.”
Friends say that the church had plenty of time to stop the proceedings before the funeral. They had given the church a remembrance video the week before the service in which Collier was shown kissing her wife.
The church’s official biography states that it “is a place where those bound by drugs, alcohol, gangs and violence can find an ‘Ounce of Hope.'” But for Collier’s friends and family, there is little hope to be found. They say the church still has not reimbursed them for the funeral service.