Fairview Baptist Church will be running story hours with books about biblical principles at two Calgary Public Library (CPL) locations on April 13. .“We’re doing a story time to celebrate boys and girls in a time, in a place, when people don’t even know what a man or woman is,” said Fairview Baptist Church senior pastor Tim Stephens in a Monday interview. .“We want an opportunity for families to come and to hear stories and to sing songs, have a time of being together and celebrating just the beauty of girlhood and boyhood and how God has made them.” .Stephens said these events will explain to people some of the confusion they hear nowadays. Boys and girls are being told they can change genders, which he objects to because it is harmful. .These story times will stress how being a boy or girl is exciting and fun. They will teach children to embrace who they are and avoid the negative consequences of denying reality. .The pastor called the books read at drag queen story times “radical gender ideology that is really trying to undermine reality.” He said this has harmed children because of increases in puberty blockers and transgender surgeries. .Rather than protesting these events, he said he wants to give a positive vision for truth and reality. He predicted people will flock to his story hours. .The books which will be read to children are written by Christian and non-Christian authors and talk about biology and reality. He will be doing some of the reading, but members of his church will assist. .There will be singing, prizes, and friendships celebrating God’s design for gender, marriage, and family. The Seton Library and Fish Creek Library were chosen for these events because they are the largest spaces. .He went on to say people are seeing crime, wickedness, and increases in sexual licence because they are turning away from God. If people do not turn and repent, he said society will continue to decline. .Stephens said he is pleased one of the story hours has filled up, and he expects more to reach capacity. There are a number of people who are displeased with the ideas pushed by mainstream media, schools, and medical professionals. .Despite his opposition to the CPL holding drag queen story times, he said it is free to do what it wants. He added people are ignorant about how harmful gender ideology is going to be. .Stephens concluded by saying it is important for children to be read books with biblical principles because “there are so many good books out there.” .“I think with books written today, there’s such a blurring of the lines of boys and girls, and so you really have to go back in the past to read some of those old books that affirm the beauty of boyhood and girlhood,” he said. .Mission7 pastor Derek Reimer was thrown out of a drag queen story time at the Seton Library for disrupting it in February. .READ MORE: WATCH: Calgary pastor kicked out of all ages drag event at library.“We are now calling the police,” said a Seton Library employee. .A group of people grabbed Reimer and drag him out of the room the event is being held in. He fell to the ground and landed on his back.
