The co-owner of a new Culver's franchisethe first in the city, located just blocks from the Boystown neighborhoodpublished online criticisms of his minister and church officials for what he felt was a lenient stance on LGBT issues.
Justin Obriecht and a co-owner are planning on opening the new Culver's location at 3500 N. Clark St. early next year, according to Chicago Tribune. Obriecht told the paper that he expects the late-night crowds and baseball games to draw big business to the restaurant. Obriecht also owns several Culver's franchises in the South Suburbs; his first, which he opened in 2001 when he was 25, was in Tinley Park. Within three years, according to a 2012 Tinley Park Patch report, Obriecht's restaurant was doing $3 million a year in sales, the most at any Culver's location.
Obriecht discussed his conversion from atheism to Christianity with Tinley Park Patch, and said that his faith had brought him new intention in his life, and a raised awareness for the plight of the poor. He has also discussed his faith at length on his blog, "Truth Seeking" ( justinobriecht.com ).
In late 2013, Obriecht began documenting difficulties he was having with Jon Klinepeter, pastor of Willow Chicago, the urban campus of Willow Creek Community Church, where Obriecht and his wife attended church, as well as other church officials. Obriecht wrote extensively about pressing Klinepeter for definitive opinions on issues such as gay marriage and same-sex adoption, and said that he was distressed by Klinepeter's apparent support for those issues.
"In March of 2013, my wife and I had a great relationship with Jon," Obriecht wrote. "I was pleased to see that my pastor had a public Facebook page and that he accepted my friend request. However my excitement soon turned to disappointment and disbelief as I scrolled through his page and found post after post condoning, normalizing and affirming homosexuality and same-sex marriage."
In a multi-part open letter that Obriecht published online beginning this past November,
Obriecht said that Willow Creek's stance on homosexuality was too informed by standards of political correctness, leaving Klinepeter "hung out to dry by his church's selective approach to Biblical truth."
Obriecht further added that "radical homosexual activists" were seeking "exploit the involuntary sexual confusion all LGBT individuals experience, in order to turn them into pawns for the cause that normalizes the very thing that's destroying their lives. While those same LGBT individuals are thirsty for truth, but the church, the only place they can get such truth, is too concerned about numbers and political correctness, to worry about their salvation."
Obriecht and his wife left Willow Chicago in November, according to his website.
Responding to an email query, Obriecht wrote, "As far as my comments in my blog in relation to LGBT matters, that was in regards to my previous church and pastor. I currently live in East Lake View and am moving in July to a home even closer to the restaurant.
"I currently employ, serve and am friends and family with several LGBT individuals. I've spent most of my life in and around the gay community and am excited to not only serve that community but employ it and continue to be a part of it."
Obriecht's letter can be read at its entirety at: http://justinobriecht.com/a-warning-for-willow-chicago/
Tinley Park Patch's article is at: http://tinleypark.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/local-culvers-owner-finds-solace-in-religion-f94e9022
Chicago Tribune's article is at: www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-culvers-chicago-wrigleyville-evanston- 20140617,0,5212844.story