Accepting Evangelicals
Evangelicals call for change of attitude on gays - May 2009
Following the Home Office ban on members of Westboro Baptist Church USA from
entering Britain to picket an anti-homophobia play in Basingstoke, there has
been a flurry of activity amongst UK Evangelicals.
The play deals with the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepherd, whose
funeral was also picketed by the Westboro church, declaring that he was "burning
in hell".
Six Christian organisations and denominations have produced a joint statement in response to
the proposed visit of Westboro Baptist Church to picket in the UK.
“We are dismayed that members of Westboro Baptist Church (based in Kansas, USA and not associated
with the Baptist Union of Great Britain) might picket the performance of The
Laramie Project in Basingstoke on Friday.
We do not share their hatred of lesbian and gay people. We believe that God loves all,
irrespective of sexual orientation, and we unreservedly stand against their
message of hate toward those communities.
Neither the style nor substance of their preaching expresses the historic, orthodox Christian
faith. And we ask that the members of Westboro Baptist Church refrain from
stirring up any more homophobic hatred in the UK or elsewhere.
Signed:
Baptist Union of Great Britain
Evangelical AllianceUK
Faithworks
The Methodist Church of Great Britain
Theos: the public theology think tank
United Reformed Church”
Four gay affirming Evangelical groups, including Accepting
Evangelicals,welcomed the statement but claimed there is a much deeper issue that these
groups have to face.
Joint statement from Gay Affirming Evangelical Groups
Following the Home Office ban on members of Westboro Baptist Church USA from
entering Britain to picket an anti-homophobia play in Basingstoke, there has
been a flurry of activity amongst UK Evangelicals. The play deals with the
murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepherd, whose funeral was also picketed by
the Westboro church, declaring that he was "burning in hell".
In particular, we are encouraged by the recent clear rejection by six major
UK Christian groups, among them the Evangelical Alliance and the Baptist Union,
of the proposed visit.
Their statement on 20th February 2009 claimed that:
"We do not share their hatred of lesbian and gay people. We believe that
God loves all, irrespective of sexual orientation, and we unreservedly stand
against their message of hate toward those communities."
This is indeed good news for all in the lesbian, gay and bisexual community,
but beneath this rejection of open hatred towards homosexuals, there is a much
deeper issue which groups like the Evangelical Alliance still have to face.
We would now call upon these groups to reflect on their own attitudes and
prayerfully consider what their "hate the sin, love the sinner" teaching does to
the minds and souls of faithful Christians who are gay.
This well rehearsed mantra clearly enables some evangelical groups to reject
the "God hates fags" approach of Westboro Baptists, but when put under the
spotlight, begins to look more like the recent case of Geert Wilders when he
claims that he "Loves Muslims but hates Islam".
To hide behind such a mantra in regard to sexual orientation simply ignores
the damaging messages which it sends, both to gay Christians struggling with
their identity, and to the world beyond which simply hears it as a call to
reject, or worse, an excuse to harm gay men and women.
In the Gospels, Jesus warns his followers not to avoid their own failings by
pointing to the failings of others - even if they are much larger. Westboro
Baptist Church operates as a hate group and is an easy target. The real
challenge to evangelicals is to face the need for change themselves.
In particular, this means: engaging more fully and openly with lesbian and
gay Christians and accepting them as equal under God; examining the way
prejudice against gay people has distorted biblical understanding; prayerfully
re-thinking church policies of exclusion and acknowledging the harm they cause;
and recognising the growing number of evangelicals who have had a heart-change
and now affirm faithful gay relationships.
Signed by:
Rev Benny Hazlehurst
Sarah Hill
Accepting Evangelicals
http://www.acceptingevangelicals.org
Jeremy Marks
Courage
http://www.courage.org.uk
Mike Dark
John Blowers
Evangelical Fellowship for Lesbian & Gay Christians
http://www.eflgc.org.uk
Martin Stears-Handscomb
Network of Baptists Affirming Lesbian and Gay Christians
http://www.affirmingbaptists.org.uk
Jonathan Bartley
Simon Barrow
Ekklesia
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk
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