LGBT Christian Groups to Meet in London, 2019

The European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups has announced that its 2019 Annual Conference will be hosted by its UK-based member groups in June 2019, in London.

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The UK member-groups include: Evangelical Fellowship of LGBT Christians,  LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council, Metropolitan Community Church North London, Quest, The Sibyls. A number of other LGBT Christian groups around the UK, although not members of the European Forum, have also expressed interest in supporting the 2019 Conference. This will be the third European Forum Conference to be held in the UK – previous venues have been Uxbridge (1988), Edinburgh (2000), and St. Alban’s (2008). The founding gathering of the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups took place in Paris, in 1982.

Martin Pendergast, Acting-Chair of the 2019 Conference Planning Group said:

When we see so much fragmentation around Europe – border restrictions, and increasing homophobic and transphobic actions – LGBT Christians and their allies will provide a prophetic voice for an inclusive, welcoming commitment to the common good of all European citizens, particularly LGBT+ people, parents and families. Brexit may or may not happen, but we’re all European even beyond the EU!

The UK Conference will follow the 2018 Conference which will be held in Albano, near Rome, 9-13 May 2018.

12 celebrities showing you can be LGBTI and a Christian 

Talented, successful, LGBTI – and Christian? These men and women show you can be all of the above

Vicky Beeching

Vicky_Beeching

Originally from Britain, with a theology degree from Oxford University under her belt, Vicky Beeching has America’s contemporary worship music scene firm in her hand – so much she’s been hailed as ‘the most influential Christian of her generation’.

Kele Okereke

Originally Hailing from Liverpool, Bloc Party’s lead singer and guitarist Kele went to a Catholic School in London’s Woodford Green, before going off to university at King’s College London and meeting Russell Lissack at Reading Festival, where they formed their band.

Source:  – Gay Star News

Being gay and Christian isn’t as contradictory as it might sound

So if I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, does that mean I get to take you out for a drink? 😉

Since reactivating my OkCupid profile two months ago, I’ve received dozens of messages mentioning my religion.

My identity as a Christian is important to me, so I let potential suitors on the Internet know that if they wanted to go to brunch on Sunday, it would have to be after 11 o’clock Mass.

However, most of my potential dates — whether we’re meeting online or off — don’t know what to make of me.

Source:  – The Washington Post

Who Are the Gay Evangelicals? 

THE anti-gay ideology that has long held sway in American evangelicalism seems to be crumbling. Conservatives’ insistence that the Bible proscribes homosexual acts and their claim that protecting gay rights infringes on their own religious liberty have depended on another assumption not found in Scripture: that homosexuality is not a biologically rooted identity but a sinful temptation, an addiction that one must control.The noisy backlash against the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage cannot mask the signs that this assumption is losing its grip.

The most conspicuous indication that something is changing came in 2013 while Obergefell v. Hodges was still working its way up to the court. Alan Chambers, the president of the “ex-gay” ministry Exodus International, apologized to L.G.B.T. people for causing them “pain and hurt” and shut down his organization.

Source: The New York Times

Sorry seems to be the hardest word – On the CofE’s apology to LGBTI Christians

‘It’s a sad, sad situation, and it’s getting more and more absurd.’So sang Elton John 40 years ago – his lament for a lost relationship could have been written for the Church of England this past month.

At the first full meeting of its governing body this year, the General Synod met this week to respond, among other things, to last month’s meeting of the Primates of the Anglican Communion, and calls for the church to apologise for its treatment of LGBTI Christians around the world.

Source: Sorry seems to be the hardest word – On the CofE’s apology to LGBTI Christians | A brave faith

What conservative gay Christians want

The LGBT rights movement — so the story goes — has split the Christian churches in two. On one side are the progressives, who believe that Christianity should accept gay people and recognise gay marriage. Lined up against them are the conservatives, who hold fast to the belief that being gay is sinful.

It’s not entirely false, that story. There are just a vast number of Christians who don’t fit into it.

Source: What conservative gay Christians want » The Spectator

The LGBT Christian “Not All Like That” Video Project

Readers of Queering the Church, and of Queer Church News, will not need to be told that queer Christians exist, know that there is no inherent conflict between faith and their sexuality or gender identity, and that we have a continuously expanding number of straight allies in faith. That’s why my site exists, and is a message I am constantly promoting. Now Dan Savage, creator of the “It Gets Better Video Project” has got the message, and given his backing to video project inspired by It Gets Better, to express Christian support for the LGBT community.

Not All Like That Project: Christians Come Out For LGBT People With Dan Savage’s Support

Dan Savage got so sick of people coming up to him after talks and TV appearances informing him that not all Christians were bigots and against full equality of LGBT people that he came up with a word for them — “NALTS” — for “Not All Like That.”

Part of the gay sex columnist and author’s frustration was that he wanted these Christians, who were so eager to tell him about their enlightened stance, to focus their efforts on telling that to the Christian leaders who were condemning gay people and telling it to LGBT people, especially young Christians, who need to hear that not all Christians are… well, “like that.”

Now some Christians have taken Savage’s challenge — and even adopted his title. Christian blogger John Shore and Wayne Besen, from Truth Wins Out, with the blessing and support of Savage, have launched NALT, The Not All Christians Are Like That Project. Based on the format of the “It Gets Better” campaign, the website launched on September 4th as a platform for Christians who want to send a direct message of welcome and acceptance to the LGBT community.

-continue reading at  Huffington Post

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London meeting: “Wholly Holy: What the Identity of Being LGBT adds to the Identity of Being Christian?”

St Martin’s Hall, Lower Crypt.

Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, addresses the question “Wholly Holy: What the Identity of Being LGBT adds to the Identity of Being Christian?”

A lecture by hosted by St Martin-in-the-Fields and by Open Table, the Greater London Changing Attitude Group, to address issues currently debated in Church and society. All are very warmly welcome to this open lecture. The evening will be chaired by Revd Clare Herbert, and will include responses and questions from the floor.


Open Table
Start: January 30, 2013 7:00 pm
End: January 30, 2013 8:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Venue: St Martin-in-the-Fields
Phone: 020 7766 1100