MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The testimony of a Christian student who said he is a former homosexual contrasted the message of a Baptist pastor, who told a group of students biblical teachings are unclear on the issue of sexual orientation.

The Baptist Press reported Pastor Mark Caldwell and associate pastor April Baker, a lesbian, of Nashville's Glendale Baptist Church spoke to a group of about 90 students at Middle Tennessee State University. The two-hour lecture was part of a weeklong "SpringOut!" event for the university's homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community.

During the lecture, Caldwell and Baker explained their belief that the Bible's teachings on homosexuality are unclear and that Jesus taught nothing about sexual ethics.

During a question-and-answer period, Brandon Farrar, a student at the university, said Christ delivered him from homosexuality.

"I agree with you when you say that Christianity and Christians should not exile people of the homosexual orientation," Farrar told Caldwell and Baker. "As a former homosexual, I am glad that my church was so supportive of me when I needed it."

Responding to Farrar, Caldwell said, "I am pleased that you have a community that is welcoming." But Caldwell said he hoped churches also would welcome, embrace and not criticize those who believe they are born homosexuals.

Caldwell and Baker said while the Bible is authoritative it must be viewed as a whole.

"It is wrong to lift … allusions to same-sex practices … from their respective context and then lump them all together and proclaim them to be the biblical teachings about homosexuality," BP quoted Caldwell as saying.

"The Bible contradicts itself often," Caldwell said. "…The best thing you can do is to try and shine the example of Jesus' life on those passages.

Russell D. Moore, assistant professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said churches such as Glendale offer false hope to homosexuals.

"I tremble to think of a young struggling homosexual who may have listened to such preaching," Moore told BP. "He is given a message of peace when there is no peace. He is not offered the transforming word of the Gospel of Christ - a gospel that can free him from the slavery to his disordered passions. There are millions in such slavery to sin. Do we love homosexuals? If so, we own them the truth - the truth that sets sinners free."

According to the news report, Caldwell's church faces expulsion form the National Baptist Association for its employment of Baker. Glendale claims affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists, which supports the ordination of homosexuals, BP reported.