The longtime chief of a Georgia police department that suspended an outspoken Christian officer who voiced his views on marriage earlier this month has abruptly retired.
Port Wentworth Police Chief Matt Libby announced his retirement Monday, just days after Officer Jacob Kersey resigned after being told by his supervisors he could be terminated for sharing his religious views.
On Jan. 4, the department placed the 19-year-old Kersey on paid administrative leave following his refusal to take down a Facebook post from two days earlier in which he paraphrased the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.
“God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage,” he wrote.
Screenshot of Kersey’s Facebook post | Screenshot/Facebook
Kersey told The Christian Post following that initial meeting, he was led to believe he had been terminated but said he was later given a “second chance.”
“I was given a second chance, ‘Be silent about your Christian beliefs, don’t post things like this because it leads us to believe that you might target members of the LGBT community,'” he told CP via phone Wednesday.
Kersey said while he had made similar statements in the past, both on social media and in his podcast, “The Jacob Kersey Program,” he was inspired after reading John Piper’s book, This Momentary Marriage.
“He does a really great job of talking about the imagery that Scripture uses for marriage,” said Kersey. “In that post, what I did is somewhat paraphrase Ephesians chapter 5, where Paul describes marriage as a mirror image of Christ and His love for His people, His Bride, the Church.
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