Marlow Baptist Church has been referred to the Charity Commission by the National Secular Society (NSS), which claimed the church is promoting homophobia.
In its complaint, the NSS referred to a sermon given in 2021, which is live (at the time of writing) on the church's YouTube Channel.
The church has hit back at the criticism, its pastor said, "we extend a warm welcome to all", and that it has met its obligations as a charity.
The Free Press has viewed the sermon given by Pastor Kenneth Claassen, where he describes homosexuality as 'perversion' and accepting homosexuality is a 'normalisation of sin'.
Claassen stated: "Our culture is telling us that sin is not sin, it's not wrong.
"It is wrong, and people are being celebrated for it."
He claimed the Roman empire outlawed homosexuality because it caused 'degradation' and 'so much problems'.
In the same sermon, he described the theory of evolution as 'just not sensical', suggested Hinduism is responsible for ‘promoting’ evolution, and described abortion as 'murder, comparing it to burning children alive as a form of sacrifice.
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that concerns have been raised with us about Marlow Baptist Church.
"We are assessing the issues to determine what, if any, role there is for us as regulator”.
The NSS made the complaint on August 18, following the church registering as a charity for ‘the advancement of religion’ in June.
Charities are legally required to act for the public benefit.
NSS spokesperson Alejandro Sanchez said: “This is just the latest example of a religious charity spreading vicious homophobia.
"Any suggestion it is acting in the public benefit is utterly farcical.
“It is of particular concern that the sermon in question appears to have been delivered to children.
“More fundamentally, however, ‘the advancement of religion’ is enabling faith groups to spread homophobia with impunity.
"Its inclusion as a charitable purpose must be urgently reviewed."
Pastor at Marlow Baptist Church, Kenneth Claassen, has responded to the criticism.
He said: " The sermon highlighted by the National Secular Society was preached 4 years ago in 2021.
"We are a registered charity.
"We have never had any failures in our charity reporting and fulfil all our objectives as laid down in Charity Commission legislation.
"In terms of public benefit, our inclusive welcome is lauded in our community by the countless people who have been helped through our provision of space for various community groups, community activities for all stages of life and Pastoral care for our congregation and community.
"We welcome all people to join us but like all Bible-believing churches, Marlow Baptist Church teaches the historic Christian position on gender and sexuality which churches have believed for 2,000 years.
"These convictions are held by thousands of churches across the country, through our shared hope that the love of Jesus Christ welcomes all who want to come to Him.
"Hence, we extend a warm welcome to all to bring their own beliefs and questions, and join us to explore for themselves the Christian hope we offer to our community.
