Evangelical Chronicles: The Pastor Who Told Me Conversion Therapy is Harmful but Keeps it Going Anyway
I considered him a potential ally in my break from our denomination’s mistreatment of LGBTQ people. He voted for Obama. We held side conversations at our national board meetings, decrying the right-wing fundamentalism that had Vineyard, and every other evangelical organization, in its grip. Maybe there was hope. So I paid him a visit in 2012 to make my case for full inclusion. He listened, as many pastors do at first, paying lip service to my “pastoral heart” for LGBTQ people.
Then he took my brain for a spin with this comment: “When a gay man joins [our ex-gay ministry] I have a meeting with him. I tell him not to pray for his sexual orientation to change — it could make him depressed or even lead to suicide.”
I froze for a moment, mouth agape, wide-eyed in stupefied amazement. Maybe a little background will help my reader, before I finish the story.
The Loophole that Encouraged These Programs in the First Place
The ex-gay movement sprouted in the mid-1970's — an attempt to seek “spiritual healing” for “homosexuality” using a combination of charismatic prayer, the 12-Steps, small group accountability and mentoring. It failed to deliver the promised goods…
