‘Homosexuality, Christianity and the Church - resolving the conflicts’ Seminar

‘Homosexuality, Christianity and the Church - resolving the conflicts’ is a seminar that helps people find answers to one of the most controversial topics in the church.


History tells us the Christian church has not always shown God’s unconditional love and at times was the last to accept that all human beings should be treated equally. For example, some Christians, using selective texts of scripture, opposed the abolition of slavery, equal rights for people of colour, two people from different races being allowed to marry and equality for women. This resistance caused great suffering.

The church has been grappling with the issue of homosexuality for several decades now along with welcoming LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) people into congregations, understanding their relationships and allowing them to use their gifts to serve God and the church. Some are just beginning the journey.

This seminar is designed to assist individuals and churches on their journey to reconcile faith/sexuality issues by looking at underlying cultural influences, real and perceived barriers and practical models for change.

People who benefited from this seminar are:
1. LGBT people from Christian backgrounds
2. Heterosexual friends and family
3. Churches who want to be more informed and create a space of acceptance for LGBT people
4. Church leadership teams who want a safe space to explore LGBT issues

PROGRAM
• Homosexuality and the Church – Why we got it SO wrong.
10 reasons why Christ-loving Christians have come to wrong conclusions about sexual orientation. Once looked at logically it’s obvious the enemy is not people but ignorance.
• The specific issues faced by LGBT people from faith backgrounds and how to resolve them.
LGBT people from faith backgrounds experience the usual issues of resolution, coming out and learning what it means to be gay or lesbian in a straight world. They often experience these things with greater intensity however and deal with additional issues. What are they and how to get unstuck?
• Sodom, Leviticus, Romans 1 and I Corinthians 6:9. What are they really saying?
Often referred to as the ‘clobber passages’, only six passages in the Bible speak about same-sex activity. Does the historical and cultural contexts and consideration of the original languages change the meaning or have we come to conclusions from misinformation and interpreting through our own 20th century biases?
• The times they are a changin’
There is a developing climate of questioning in many Pentecostal and Evangelical circles. You’ll be encouraged and amazed to know what extent this is happening. Creating a Space for Change is a model that facilitates this process. People are moving from hatred of same-sex-oriented people to a place of acceptance and advocacy. How?

Each topic is covered in one hour in an informed and respectful environment with an opportunity for questions.

PRESENTER
Anthony Venn-Brown is highly qualified to speak on these issues. Anthony was a leader in the Assemblies of God and a popular preacher in the mega-churches of Australia. After 22 years of counselling, exorcisms, 40 day fasts, ‘ex-gay’ programs and marriage he was forced to face reality. Nothing had changed: he was still gay. After his resignation from the ministry and public confession, he struggled to come to terms with the loss of his friends, faith and purpose.

Anthony is now a dedicated ambassador for the LGBT community, promoting respectful dialogues, educating people about sexuality and assisting others to resolve the perceived conflict between their faith and their sexuality. His award winning autobiography ‘A Life of Unlearning’ is now in its second print and he has appeared on national TV programs such as 60 minutes, Sunrise, the Morning Show and Mornings with Kerri Anne. Anthony is also the co-founder and Convenor of Freedom 2 b[e] and twice voted one of the 25 Most Influential Gay and Lesbian Australians.

For more information email anthony@anthonyvennbrown.com

Australia's Ex-gay World - the clock is ticking

A presentation at the recent conference in Florida "Building Community to End the Harm Caused By Heterosexism & Reparative Therapy"
Sponsored by Soulforce, Truth Wins Out, the National Black Justice Coalition, Beyond Ex-Gay, Box Turtle Bulletin, and Equality Florida

Background

Believing that God would never accept my homosexual orientation, I tried desperately to change through daily prayer, believing for a miracle, quoting scripture as well as a 40 day fast and exorcisms. When none of these worked, I entered Australia’s first ex-gay program in 1971, (five years before Exodus was created in LA). I’d been told that the only way I’d really become heterosexual was to enter this rehabilitation style program and not try to overcome this on my own. Apparently, it that would take at least 12 months to make me heterosexual, possibly two years. It was a live-in program and I spent 6 months desparately trying to overcome my homosexuality and become straight. Some of you might remember 16 year old Zack who was force by his parents into the Love in Action ex-gay program in 2005. When that controversy broke and the rules of Love in Action became public. I was amazed that the rules were basically the same as the ones I’d submitted to nearly 4 decades ago. They didn’t work then and they don’t work now.

In a word, my experience in this program was, abusive. Shame and guilt were the motivating forces and reinforced by the leaders. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. After 6 months of manipulation and humiliation, I couldn’t take it any more and left. The leaders spread rumours about me and ‘handed me over to Satan’….believing this treatment would drive me back to God. I'm pleased to say that groups closed down years ago.

A couple of years later I felt that I had gained enough control and, encouraged that marriage would be how God could make my ‘true’ heterosexuality a reality, I married a wonderful young Christian women in my church. Two children and 16 years later, like the majority of these situations, it ended in disaster. During that time, with a wife on my arm and children by my side, I had all the outward evidences of heterosexuality but this was very far from the truth. I followed my calling to become a pastor and full time evangelist. Eventually I became a leader in the Assemblies of God and was a high profile preacher in Australia’s mega-churches. This level of notoriety came to an abrupt end in 1991 when I fell in love with a man. The denial I’d built around me came tumbling down and I was forced to face the reality that the last 22 years had actually changed nothing. I was still gay. I resigned from the ministry.

I’m sure you can imagine how devastating this was for me personally but also for my wife, children and those who dear to me.

It took me years to heal from the trauma of the public confession the loss of the things I really cared about. It was several years later that I felt God told me to tell my story and that it would help many people. In 2004 the first edition of my autobiography ‘A Life of Unlearning’ was released.

From the very first day I began receiving emails. Most commenced with the statements thank you for your honesty and your story is my story. My inbox became a microscope into a hidden world of people who’d been isolated and alienated. Most had never spoken to anyone about their experience but now they had someone to connect with. I had no idea just how much tragedy and unnecessary suffering existed out there…..or how many suicides had occurred. I knew I could not sit back and do nothing…..hence my new direction in life as an ambassador for the GLBT community.

What’s happening in the ‘ex-gay’ world down under – 7 positive signs

Australia’s ex-gay world is different in many ways to the US counterpart. The organisations are small and having little impact. They have no real success stories or poster children, shy away from media attention, are not well funded financially and usually not political. Most Aussie ex-gay groups don’t really relate to or understand some of the excesses of their US cousins but are too polite to say anything as it would seem unsupportive. It’s easier to sit on the other side of the globe and pass these off as American extremisms.

This is not to say that people are not hurt through ‘ex-gay’ programs in Australia; they are. I work with the people who no longer have any connection with ‘ex-gay’ ministries. I’m sure they don’t realise the long-lasting damage their ministries cause or otherwise they would close down tomorrow. I would. The people I have contact with are those who just stopped going to the meetings. Or like me, married believing that this was their next step, only to find in mid life or sooner that they had nothing more than suppression and denial; not a change in orientation. It’s then they come to me. These people are hurt, damaged and angry. As one man, who’d been involved with ‘ex-gay’ ministries in Australia for over 20 years, said to me recently, ‘I was sold a very cruel lie’

My belief is that ex-gay ministries are often not the cause but are more like the symptom of a much bigger problem. The real enemy is ignorance. That is, the ignorance that exists in Christian circles about sexual orientation. When the director of Exodus, Alan Chambers, claims that Exodus gets over 400,000 calls and emails annually from people saying they hate being homosexual, we have to ask the questions ‘Is Exodus the cause or only responding to something far deeper?’.Did these peoples journey begin because of Exodus or are they just where these tortured people end up? Exodus offers hope for the ‘problem’ in subtly disguised messages of ‘change’. Ninety nine percent of these inquiries come from evangelicals and Pentecostals. We know the source of this self’-loathing is based and on an outdated view of homosexuality as pathology fuelled by a terrible ignorance of the historical and cultural contexts of scripture.

Australia’s ‘ex-gay’ ministries work in the areas of same sex attraction, sexual abuse and sexual addiction. The attraction for many is that ‘ex-gay’ ministries provide a space for them to deal with sexual addiction and abuse issues. Of course these two issues play out in the context of same-sex behaviour so there is great confusion caused by the ministries inability to separate these three areas. Show me a person of faith who is same-sex-oriented and has experienced abuse and/or has a sexual addiction and I’ll show you a prime candidate for ‘ex-gay’ ministries. It’s so obvious when you know the stories.

Our wins in Australia

We regularly hear the stories of tragedy and harm, as we have tonight, and I don’t want in any way to take away from the severity of those but I’d like to focus tonight on some of our wins and the progress occurring in Australia.

1. Terminology has changed. Ex-gay ministries no longer boldly declare that all homosexuals will burn in hell. They now work with people with ‘unwanted’ same sex attraction. The question of course is why is it ‘unwanted’? That has an obvious answer. Conditioning, conformity and ignorance. They certainly don’t know people of faith who have resolved the perceived conflict of faith and sexuality. They can’t comprehend that such a thing as a gay Christian actually exists.

2. Heterosexuality is no longer the goal. This has been stated on the major group’s website; Liberty Christian Ministries. Another leader of the next largest group often counsels inquirers by saying that they will always walk with a limp. This is possibly an unfortunate term of phrase……but at least acknowledges the gay will never go away. It can only be suppressed, denied or controlled. He should know, as even though he has been married for some years he stated openly that he got sexually aroused reading my book. So much for the limp.

3. The Assemblies of God rewrote their position statement on homosexuality. Whilst it is still a long way from affirming GLBT people it has acknowledged a difference between orientation and behaviour. Basically acknowledging that a person can be gay, celibate and a Christian. They can never go back now to the old position.

4. Five former ‘ex-gay’ leaders in Australia wrote statements for me that were either apologies for the harm they had caused or stating a change in perspective. One was the immediate former Exodus Australia and Asia leader. When I posted these statements on my blog, it gained international attention and the current Exodus leader Peter Lane was quoted in the gay press saying ‘the criticism had hurt his organization’. I’m hoping that doesn’t just mean hurt emotionally but that their credibility has been undermined.

5. In 2008 over 100 ministers signed and apology to the GLBT community saying sorry for the way we had been treated and 35 of them marched in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras (Pride March). These were not ministers so much from liberal backgrounds but mostly Evangelicals and Pentecostals.

6. Brian Houston, the senior pastor of Hillsong, issued a statement on sexuality and said.

God has created each of us as sexual beings, and I do not believe it is His will for it to be complicated. However, I recognise that people face very real issues in regards to sexuality. I have seen this both in my wider family, our church and society more generally. This is a global challenge that most of the world’s churches are grappling with, and we, like them, are trying to balance theology with compassion. We do not profess to have all the answers, nor has the church worldwide always got it right, but we will continue to try and connect people to Jesus because we know that hope and answers for every situation and circumstance can be found in Him.

This is an encouraging shift in attitude and a very different position from previous statements by bible believing Christians; that said we do have the answers; homosexuals are evil and don’t go to heaven.

7. The Bayside Breakthrough. Only weeks ago, in a mega Pentecostal church in Melbourne the pastor preached a message which was titled the Real Christianity – the accepting church. The theme basically was that the church has erred in their attitude towards GLBT people and noted the incorrect interpretation of the Sodom and Gomorrah story. The churches statement now declares

“Bayside Church is a place where everyone is welcome. We believe that God loves everyone and that He sent His Son Jesus to bring salvation (through His death and resurrection) to all of humanity. A study of the life of Jesus clearly reveals His love and care towards those who are often marginalized by the rest of society. Bayside Church welcomes GLBT people to find God’s love and grace and to worship Him freely within our community.”

At the end of the message the church gave the pastor a standing ovation. Possibly the standing ovation is just as much, if not more of a miracle than the pastor preaching the message. I believe this is a ‘world first’, and the pastor and congregation should be congratulated for their honesty and courage.

Conclusion

We are living in a time when there is a change in climate; an environment of questioning. Questioning if the churches attitude towards GLBT people reflects the character of Jesus Christ and if possibly the churches view of homosexuality has been incorrect, as it has about so many things. I think we should devote all our energies towards those who are in that space of questioning; these are the people I love to give my time to. And we should ignore the diehard bible-quoting Pharisees, with their tired, old, clichéd statements of ‘homosexuality is an abomination’, ‘God created Adam and Even not Adam and Steve’ and ‘Love the sinner hate the sin’. They are annoying, boring and wrong.

There is more encouraging news I could give but my time is limited to share all these with you. Basically it’s good to know we are on the winning side and that eventually sanity will prevail and GLBT people will be treated with respect and equality. Every poll tells us we are moving closer to that day.

My goal is to see every ex-gay ministry in Australia close down. Not because I have attacked them or even because I have deconstructed the myths and falsehoods they perpetuate; but that they no longer exist because they have no more inquiries or referrals. The source of the ignorance has dried up in churches and everyone has realised being gay or lesbian doesn't mean you are broken and need fixing or sick and need healing.

Young gay men and lesbians in Australian churches are already coming to a place where they know their morality is a choice but their sexual orientation isn’t. And when they 'come out' in their churches and families some are finding they are loved and embraced instead of rejected. Every day in Australia we move closer to making this common place instead of the exception.

Why Australian Pentecostals Will Embrace GLBT People

It’s inevitable that Australian Pentecostal Churches will welcome gay and lesbian Christians. Let me say that again. It’s inevitable that Australian Pentecostal Churches will welcome gay and lesbian Christians.

When I first made that statement to a church leader in 2005 he laughed. ‘That will never happen’, he replied. At that stage I had nothing to base that statement on except two things.

1. A faith in a God that can transform His people and that His church so they can be as He intended; a place of love and acceptance not condemnation and judgement.

2. A faith in Pentecostal people. I’ve been involved in Pentecostal circles for four decades now and in essence I know that they are good people, not evil. They may not always have got it right but my belief is that in the end sanity will prevail re sexuality as it has about numerous other issues. (see below)

I firmly believe that the question is no longer a matter of ‘if’ Pentecostals will welcome GLBT people, but ‘when’ and ‘how’. I keep reminding church leaders, who are prepared to dialogue with me that it’s about how we manage the change. What can we learn from other denominations that have made the shift successfully as well as those who are splitting at the seams, like the Anglican Church? What aided the transition? What created polarisation and caused the damage?

A substantial number of people in Pentecostal congregations now believe that homosexuality is a sexual orientation not a sin. I’ve spoken to or received emails from so many people who have gay men or lesbians as friends and relatives and know, without a shadow of doubt, that homosexuality is not a ‘lifestyle choice’. They would not expect them to change who they are and it’s offensive to them to even consider such a thing.

Australian Church Life Survey Reveals the Shift

Traditional teaching about homosexuality within Pentecostal churches in Australia was quite simple: it’s a sin, demonic and lifestyle choice. Pentecostal people, like mental health professionals in the 50’s & 60’s, believed that homosexuality could be cured or healed. It’s not that long ago that if you asked anyone in Australian Pentecostal churches these two questions the answer would be a resounding, non-equivocal NO.

1. Should homosexuals be appointed to leadership positions in the church on the same basis as heterosexuals?

2. Should homosexuals be accepted as members in the church on the same basis as heterosexuals?

In 2001 a survey was conducted by the National Church Life Survey, across a number of denominations, to gauge congregant’s attitudes towards homosexual people. In that survey, when asked anonymously, 21% of Pentecostals said YES to the first question and 54% said YES to the second question. Things are no longer as they were.

Australian Pentecostal Churches Will Embrace GLBT People

A Little History about Pentecostalism in Australia

Christianity in Australia was imported initially from England and Europe. The buildings, style of worship, rituals etc were from a different culture. Whilst this flourished for a while, these churches and denominations are mostly in decline and congregations aging; the average Australian, particularly youth, finding them irrelevant to life in the 21^st century.

One of the themes of my preaching in the 80’s was the need to create a unique breed of Aussie Christianity that was not influenced by Europe or the US. Nowadays there are many growing and successful movements within Pentecostalism in Australia including Hillsong, Christian City Church (3C), The Edge, Planet Shakers and Christian Outreach Centres. Australia now has many mega-churches. Whilst the Pentecostal style of worship is not everyone’s cup of tea it seems that they have tapped into something that many Aussies relate to; the vibrancy of a rock concert and the energy of a football match. The uniqueness of these expressions of Christianity are currently getting global attention and people come from other countries to learn from their success.

The Way We Were (8 things that no longer exist)

If you can find someone who was a part of the Pentecostal movement back in the 60’s they will tell you exactly what Pentecostal Christianity was like then. It was basically a holiness movement that had little more than cult status; frequently put in the same basket as Jehovah Witnesses.

I set foot in my first Pentecostal Church, Petersham Assemblies of God, in 1969. This is the way things were then.

1. Dress:

• Everyone dressed conservatively as this was considered a sign of holiness (ie being separate from the world). Men wore suits to church
• Women wore hats. The bible says it is shameful for a woman to have her head uncovered.
• No jewellery or makeup. The bible says dress modestly and not adorn yourself with jewellery. Women who wore excessive makeup were called Jezebels or considered harlots.
• Women were not allowed to wear slacks or jeans as that was men’s clothing. The bible says that you can’t wear the opposite genders clothes.
• Long hair was out for Pentecostal young men. The bible says that demons came out of the pit of hell with faces of men and hair of women.
• No tattoos or piercing. The bible banned them.

2. Music:

• Any form of music apart from Christian music was banned. You couldn’t listen to the radio or buy a pop record.
• Later on rock music was considered demonic and some even preached that secret messages had been implanted in the music which could be heard if it was played backwards.
• Anything that sounded contemporary at all was conforming to the world. This included folk music.

3. Worship Style:

• Services were extremely conservative formalised and structured. Although Pentecostals felt that they gave liberty to the Holy Spirit to move and they were not like traditional ritualistic denominations, an unwritten liturgy still existed.
• Only hymns and simple repetitive choruses were sung
• There were usually two or at the most messages in tongues and then the interpretation. The bible gave clear directions about the use of the gifts of the Spirit in church meetings. This only happened in the morning service as the evening service was a gospel service for the unsaved and the bible once again gave clear directions about such displays in front of non-believers.
• In most churches the only instruments were piano and/or organ. Introducing drums could be enough to split a church over the issue.
• After the charismatic movement of the 70’s & 80’s some within the Pentecostal world wanted a more vibrant and expressive style of worship. This issue nearly divided the Assemblies of God. The main issue being whether people were allowed to dance in church and should singing extemporaneously in the spirit be permitted.

4. Lifestyle:

• No one was allowed to go the cinema. It was called the SINema.
• At church camps men and women swam separately. The bible says that it was not good to cause your brother to stumble by placing temptation in front of them.
• Going to dances was banned. This was ‘worldly’ and the bible said to not put yourself in a vulnerable position of temptation and two people holding each other closely could incite sexual arousal. It was also considered pagan and tribal and therefore demonic. When Moses came down from the mountain he found the people worshiping a golden calf and they were dancing.
• The Sabbath (Sunday to Pentecostals) was meant to be a holy day. Therefore you couldn’t play sport, go to the beach, watch TV or even read the Sunday papers.

5. Alcohol:

Everyone abstained totally from any form of alcohol (even in cooking). The bible says not to be drunk and one glass could be the first step on a slippery path to debauchery. The Australian Christian Churches (ACC, formerly the Assemblies of God) conference this year removed the statement in the ministers’ code of ethics that they must abstain from all alcohol or they would lose their credential. Most Pentecostals these days don’t see a problem drinking socially but not excessively.

6. Ministry:

• No real social action programs such as working with the unemployed, homeless or the poor. This was considered to be the work of missionaries in foreign third world countries. It was never really done as an act of charity but with strings attached. Eg you must attend this service, hear the gospel, then we’ll feed you.
• Indigenous Australians were ministered to on missions and expected to reject their culture entirely and adopt a western holiness lifestyle.
• No programs that dealt with important life related issues such as mental health, personal development, leadership, sexual abuse etc. This was the Holy Spirit’s job to sort these things out.
• Congregations were basically white Anglo-Saxon. Today though congregations are multicultural and many ethnic churches exist.

7. The Role of Women:

• Although there were many women preachers and church planters in the early days (1930’s) of Pentecostalism in Australia, over a few decades it had become totally male dominated and patriarchal.
• Women were not allowed to preach. The bible says not to let a woman teach of have authority over a man.
• Women were not allowed leadership positions. The bible says that women are more susceptible to spiritual attacks as demonstrated by Eve in the Garden of Eden.
• The expected role was very much that women are to bear children, be housekeepers and submit to their husbands authority

Today 26.41% of credentialed pastors are female (up from 24.6% in 2006). It’s a growing trend. 5.74% of senior pastors in sole leadership are female (5.09% in 2006). Pastor Melinda Dwight (Imagine Church Melbourne) was the first female to sit on an Australian Christian Churches (ACC) national board and the first women to be elected to a State Executive. This year (2009), Pastor Donna Crouch (from Hillsong) was elected to the ACC National Executive. Some believed this would never happen.

8. Divorce:

• Once divorced you could never remarry. The bible says so. Some wouldn’t ever get divorced because of the shame and remained in dysfunctional or abusive marriages.
• Those that did divorce either left the church or remained in the congregation living with a sense of shame and were often treated like lepers.

Realising the previous stand of divorce was impractical and caused unnecessary suffering; the ACC Executive began amending its policy on divorce. This year (2009) it was formally passed. Even though there is a gospel record of Jesus saying there are never any grounds for divorce, the ACC has allowed it on the grounds of adultery and abuse. This has separated Australian Pentecostals from many of their brothers and sisters in other countries.

There’s much more I could talk about, but I think you get my drift.

If we were able to transport a Pentecostal from the 60’s into the morning service of your average Pentecostal church today they would be horrified. It would be totally unrecognisable to them and they would believe that the movement had lost its way. Within the space of forty years the Pentecostal world in Australia has evolved and shed every single one of these things I’ve mentioned above. The verses that created the culture, practices and beliefs are still there in the bible but the old interpretations are now considered irrelevant. Some Pentecostals in Australia have realised that the six passages in the bible, assumed to talk about homosexuality, were written in another time and culture and not talking about same sex orientation as we know it today. This has not happened to the same degree in other countries. There is something about our unique Aussie culture that has contributed to these significant shifts.

So if there is any denomination or Christian group in Australia that has the potential to evolve, transition and re-invent itself then it’s Pentecostals. What has occurred in a few decades in the Pentecostal world here has not happened in other areas of Christendom for centuries.

The recent message preached by Pastor Rob Buckingham ‘Real Christianity – the accepting Church’ at Bayside church in Melbourne is just the tip of the iceberg. Not only is the message a global first, the entire congregation gave him a standing ovation at the conclusion of the message. Bayside is to be congratulated for their courage in being the first to say “Bayside Church is a place where everyone is welcome. We believe that God loves everyone and that He sent His Son Jesus to bring salvation (through His death and resurrection) to all of humanity. A study of the life of Jesus clearly reveals His love and care towards those who are often marginalized by the rest of society. Bayside Church welcomes GLBT people to find God’s love and grace and to worship Him freely within our community.”

The gay press welcomed the news warmly.

Church advocates for gay acceptance

'World first' as Pentecostals welcome gays

First Bayside, then another church will take the step, then another, then another, till we reach the tipping point and an entire Pentecostal denomination welcomes GLBT people.

My belief is that Australia will lead the way with this issue. For many of us though it can’t come soon enough because every day we wait people suffer unnecessarily and lives are lost through suicide.