CHURCH CANCELS WOMANS FUNERAL AFTER DISCOVERING SHE IS HOMOSEXUAL..

December 30 , 2014, when her gun went off while
she was cleaning it .
Local police have not ruled out that the 33 -
year - old might have committed suicide . Collier’ s
funeral was scheduled for January 10 at the
New Hope Ministries in Denver , Colorado. Her
family paid the church $ 400 to hold the funeral
service in their facilities, and worked hard to
make it a celebration of Vanessa ’s life.
According to the chaplain for Newcomer ,
apparently the funeral director for the church
on the day the Collier family planned the
service was not the normal funeral director ,
and this person was not aware that New Hope
Ministries has a policy against open
homosexuality in their sanctuary .
Collier ’s family claims they had put together a
video to be played during the service , and
delivered that to the church per their two- day
advance request so they could review what would
be shown . That copy, unfortunately , was lost by
the church . The family provided another copy on
Friday , which the church was not able to review
until 20 minutes before the services were
scheduled to begin.
Her family and friends began filing into the
church and taking their seats at 10 : 00 Saturday
morning. At about 10: 15 Saturday morning,
Pastor Ray Chavez halted the funeral service ,
stating that as long as the pictures of Vanessa
and Christina were displayed, the service could
not continue. Pastor Chavez reportedly told the
family that the services could only continue if
they were to edit out images of Vanessa showing
any form of affection toward her wife . The
family declined , stating that they “ didn’ t want
to edit her life. ”
Fortunately, Newcomer Funeral Home was across
the street from the church , and they were
willing to welcome Collier ’s family and friends .
Collier ’s casket was closed, loaded into a hearse ,
and driven across the street . Family members
gathered the photos and floral displays and
carried them over themselves. According to
accounts , 180 mourners filled Newcomer Funeral
Home in a space that was only capable of
holding about 60 people .
Reports are that New Hope Ministries has not
refunded the family ’ s money , but instead are
said to have walked it over to Newcomer Funeral
Home on Monday. This is a point where reports
conflict , as protests which have cropped up
around the church since this became public are
demanding a public apology from the church for
basically cancelling a funeral as it was starting ,
as well as a full refund of the $ 400 to the
family . The family has told reporters that they
would have had no problems with moving the
service is they had been informed about issues
with the video in advance instead of as the
service was beginning.
What say you ? Should the church have gone
ahead with the funeral , or were they right in
shutting it down ? Tell us what you think in the
comments below!