Research on LGBTQ in the United States of America often seems to leave out the voices of people of African descent even though African immigrants occupy important leadership roles in the church and society. In this research, I seek to interrogate how religious understandings inform how pastors of African descent construct communal identities and influence how they interact with their parishioners in the debate on LGBTQ progressive ideologies, specifically, in the United Methodist Church. Using ethnographic research that employs the use of interviews, and robust observations with participants, this research pioneer discussions and bring illumination to why pastors of African descent chose to join the United Methodist Church, but most importantly, why they chose to stay with the denomination amidst the controversies of disaffiliation revolving around LGBTQ ideologies.