Interview w/ Casey Grooten on Radiant Church's Space Downtown and Their Anti- LGBTQ Bigotry (RE-UPLOAD)

Originally published on May 18th, 2022. We are re-uploading due to a recent story about Radiant buying up a hot dog place in the downtown area.

 

Out with the old dogs in with the new: Youz Guys ends run on Kalamazoo Mall

https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2024/09/out-with-the-old-dogs-in-with-the-new-youz-guys-ends-run-on-kalamazoo-mall.html

 

We are joined by local artist and journalist Casey Grooten to talk about the space Radiant Church has taken up on the downtown walking mall. Following the shuttering of several Kalamazoo Mall businesses following the COVID-19 pandemic, Radiant Church seized on the opportunity by buying up several properties in the area (with aims to continue gaining more properties and expanding).

 

Grooten talks about the incentives Radiant has to buy up properties, and we dive into the theological stance of the church that is decidedly at odds with the Kalamazoo community when it comes to being welcoming to LGBTQ residents. Describing homosexuality as a "spiritual illness" we look at how the church obfuscates these bigoted views at their businesses and what their goals of perpetual expansion mean for Kalamazoo and spaces in the downtown area.