A vicar walked out of a service at Borehamwood Baptist Church on Sunday night after a visiting American evangelist condemned the Archbishop of Canterbury for defending gay rights.

Event organisers say Rev Richard Leslie, of St Michael and All Angels Church in Brook Road, left the building when the speaker -- a well-known opponent of spiritualism, astrology and hypnosis -- attacked the Church of England's top cleric, Dr George Carey.

But the Baptists' Rev Peter Thomas explained his guest, Ben Alexander, spoke out after reading a newspaper article which falsely implied Dr Carey believed homosexual and heterosexual relationships were equal in the sight of God.

"My understanding of the Archbishop's position is that he would not equate heterosexual and homosexual relationships," said Rev Thomas.

Rev Leslie told us he did not want to comment in detail, but revealed he came to hear a talk about the dangers of spiritualism and left to go to another engagement when the speaker moved off-topic.

Borehamwood Baptists' leader said had Rev Leslie stayed for a question and answer session afterwards, he would have heard the speaker apologise to Anglicans in the congregation of 70.

But Rev Thomas said while he regretted his visitor -- the author of a book on how he escaped from the clutches of spiritualism -- had singled out the archbishop, The Bible says that God does not approve of homosexual relationships.

He said Christians came from as far away as Neasden and Welwyn Garden City to hear Mr Alexander speak and it is his policy not to speak on issues that divide believers, but to focus on the dangers of the occult, which all those who follow Jesus condemn.

Mr Alexander's comments on the Archbishop of Canterbury were only a 30 second aside, he said, in a one-and-a-quarter hour talk which was well received by most of the congregation -- apart from the spiritualists in the audience. "We were very pleased to have him and pleased with the number of visitors," he said.

Rev Thomas, who has been at the Furzehill Road church for seven years, added he thought the anti-spiritualists' message was a very important one for Borehamwood: "When I hear that kids are playing with Ouija Boards in their lunch hours, and no-one seems to do anything about it, it leaves me very much concerned."

He warned he had met people whose involvement with the occult had left them mentally scarred. He pointed out Christians oppose spiritualism because they believe it follows that what is supernatural, and not of God, must be evil.

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