tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-873059253261642303.post2111814939043287102..comments2023-11-02T10:50:42.128-05:00Comments on CLOSED: The Church IS HomophobicTLF+http://www.blogger.com/profile/01650010433581488888noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-873059253261642303.post-70853703380118936892008-05-17T19:02:00.000-05:002008-05-17T19:02:00.000-05:00NPA:This looks like a "safe place" to share a very...NPA:<BR/><BR/>This looks like a "safe place" to share a very remarkable testimony from David Morrison, a man who was converted to Christ from very active involvement in a gay lifestyle. Although Mr. Morrison is now a Roman Catholic, he was ministered to by orthodox Episcopalians when he first became a Christian. This is what he experienced at "Trinity Church, a small Episcopal church in northern Virginia": <BR/> <BR/>"When, after six weeks of anonymously attending services, I first went to the rector and told him of my life of gay activism and my conversion to Christ, I did so almost trembling with anxiety. After all, I knew what many Christians think of gays and lesbians. I half-expected Nicholas to throw me–politely, since he was an Anglican–out on my ear. But he didn’t. After courteously listening to everything I had to say, he turned to me and said: "David, if you need me to affirm what you do in bed, I cannot, because I think that is sin. But if you need me to affirm you as a brother in Christ, I can do that, because anyone who welcomes Christ is welcome here." And he, along with his wife and family, and many other families at Trinity, meant it. Their love for me, a seemingly rock-solid gay activist, even as they disputed the immorality in my life, gave me a lasting lesson in Christianity’s depth and reality. <BR/><BR/>"Although most of the parishioners, steeped in Evangelical Anglicanism, possessed a thoroughly Christian identity and a solid disapproval of sexual expression outside of marriage, many of them, particularly those who went out of their way to befriend me, also knew a great deal about acceptance, compassion, and deep friendship. Including me in their bake sales and car washes, family reunions, Bible studies, and other mundane activities even as they knew I was a gay activist, appears such an insignificant thing. But allowing me to be a part of their day-to-day lives forced me to reevaluate the little box of prejudice into which I had previously placed "Christians." <BR/><BR/>"Looking back, after eight years of seeking to live chastely as a Christian, I believe my time at Trinity represented a turning point in my early Christian life. While I had accepted intellectually the claims of the historic Christian creeds and experienced a deep emotional conviction of Christ’s reality and love, Christianity’s doctrines and disciplines remained merely concepts. It was the witness of the Christians at Trinity Church that put flesh onto the bones of biblical phrases like "love thy neighbor" and "seventy times seven times." <BR/><BR/>"Christ had answered me when, in desperation over the emptiness of my life, I cried aloud for him. But it was the Christians at Trinity who made his presence in my life a daily reality and, in turn, provided the witness I needed to abandon even gay pornography and any lingering backward glances for the fleshpots of my former nights." <BR/><BR/>http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=167 <BR/><BR/>I can say "Amen!" to all of that because my own experiences were remarkably similar to those of Mr. Morrison. If only the Church as a whole--whether TEC or the break away groups--could be willing to manifest more of this kind of "homophobia." That's what it's going to take!<BR/><BR/>episcopalienatedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-873059253261642303.post-39672945990841520312008-05-15T16:12:00.000-05:002008-05-15T16:12:00.000-05:00Ultimately, there is no safety in the homosexual l...Ultimately, there is no safety in the homosexual lifestyle, even for those who find a partner to settle down with. The idea of a safe place or a gay world (for that matter a heterosexual world) is an illusion. Just shows how out of touch with reality some people have become.Alice C. Linsleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13069827354696169270noreply@blogger.com