Anglican Mainstream

By Kilian Melloy, Boston Edge

The New Zealand arm of "ex gay" group Exodus has lost a bid to gain charity status, because the government there says that being gay is okay–and not a disease requiring charitable support, reported GayNZ.com in an Aug. 30 article.

The group says that they offer services that are valuable to gays who are going through "very difficult times," much as a charity for GLBT youth, Rainbow Youth, does.

But the agency that made the decision, the Charities Commission, was not convinced by this argument. In is decision against Exodus, the Commission noted that Exodus laid out its mission as follows: "To promote the teaching that… God gives to human kind the gift of sex for procreation and the expression of love and pleasure in the context of a heterosexual and monogamous marriage and that deviations from this including homosexuality are morally wrong."

The group also claims that it exists in order to "counsel and assist homosexuals and others with sexual problems in order that they may find healing and release into wholeness as desired by God and revealed in the Bible," as well as to "make information available to homosexuals… that they can be released from homosexuality and to teach and present the view that a homosexual can change and that he or she is not born homosexual".

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by Phelim McIntyre

From JONAH

I just returned from my first Journey Into Manhood (JiM) weekend staffing experience, at JiM 46 in Pennsylvania, which means I assisted the leaders of the weekend. The experience has touched me so deeply, and in so many unexpected ways, that I have still not finished absorbing and processing all of it fully. But I have experienced one big takeaway already, a breakthrough on an issue I have been working on for many years. I would like to share it with you.

My biggest fear going into the weekend was that, as Soundman, I would get stuck running equipment and not get enough connection with other men. So before the journeyers arrived Friday, encouraged by my therapist and a fellow staff member, I asked the staff for connection – hugs, holding, conversation, any kind of connection in any free moments any of them had – throughout the weekend. I ended up getting more than I could have ever imagined. I think I was hugged and held and embraced by more men during that weekend than at any time in the year and a half since my own JiM weekend. I was so filled with gratitude, love and tears for so much of the weekend, I almost couldn't believe it. It felt so so good.

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By Riazat Butt, Guardian

Most Rev Henry Orombi also used Entebbe meeting of 400 bishops to reiterate opposition to homosexuality

The archbishop of Uganda yesterday urged hundreds of African bishops to shake off their fears, shame and superficial dependency and re-evangelise the "ailing" churches of the west.

In a rallying cry to the biggest constituency of the Anglican Communion, the Most Rev Henry Orombi said it was time for Africans to "rise up and bring fresh life in the ailing global Anglicanism".

His call came on the same day that US Episcopalians published a guide on liturgical and ceremonial resources for clergy and same-sex couples.

Orombi was addressing the 400 bishops who are in Entebbe, Uganda, this week for the second meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa.

He told them the "potentials" attending the conference must be free to go to Europe and the US and revive the "Mother Church desperate for the gospel".

One of those listening was the Archbishop of Canterbury, who faces an awkward week as he visits Uganda for the first time since he took office in 2002.

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By Christopher Brocklebank, Pink News

Figures released by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) this morning have shown that the state of sexual health among the UK population is poor, with STI rates reaching record levels. The figures have also revealed that gay men are of partcular concern.

Terrence Higgins Trust’s Chief Executive Sir Nick Partridge said: "It’s staggering that almost half a million people each year are affected by preventable sexually transmitted infections. Gay men continue to top the list, accounting for two thirds of syphilis and over a third of gonorrhoea diagnoses last year, while being only 6% of the population.

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By Connor Ewing, Eric LeMasters, Mark Tooley, IRD

At their recent gathering in Germany, the United Methodist Global Young People’s Convocation (GYPC) rejected several resolutions petitioning the General Conference to permit same-sex unions. They also affirmed resolutions calling for reduced abortion, saying “We mourn and are committed to promoting the diminishment of high abortion rates.” And they urged greater support for international delegates at the next General Conference.

GYPC meets every four years and its assembly’s purpose is to “make the voices of young people around the world be heard in the life of The United Methodist Church.” Its legislation is supposed to reflect the “needs of young people across the globe.” Proposals require at least a two-thirds vote by delegates. About 350 delegates attended this assembly during late July in Berlin.

One pro-life resolution that the GYPC approved called on United Methodist churches and campus groups to “be on the forefront of supporting existing and developing new ministries that compassionately help women in their communities find feasible alternatives to abortion.” Another sought to “affirm the important, common-ground goal of lowering the world’s abortion rates” and “affirm efforts of ministry and political leaders to lower abortion in ways consistent with our United Methodist Social Principles.”

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By A Dean Byrd, NARTH

Summary of Symposium from NARTH

[.....]  This symposium reviewed the scientific evidence which led the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force to conclude that there was "insufficient evidence to support sexual orientation change efforts" (SOCE). The panelists presented arguments that the Task Force Report failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their conclusions. In addition, the presenters discussed the importance of demonstrating respect for both religious orientation as well as sexual orientation of those who seek psychological care.

[.....]  The issues discussed by the Task Force and the stance they take arise from a set of grounding assumptions. Given those assumptions, they can not conclude anything other than what they did. These assumptions are that people are not moral agents, that human behaviors are caused by biological givenness, that abstractions like orientation, attraction, and sexuality have an existence apart from human actions, and that they exert causal influence in human affairs. This world view, and personal, political, and moral agendas that are over laid on it, define a set of issues surrounding SOCE, and predispose certain conclusions, captured in the Task Force report. Within this world view the issues cannot be otherwise. However I assert that the world is not like this. I assert that human beings are indeed moral agents, that human behaviors have meaning and moral purpose that are fundamental to human life, that human behaviors arise out of the acts of agents making sense of the constraints of context within a world or moral purpose and intention, that orientations, attractions, and sexuality are things we do, not things we are, that abstractions are merely descriptions for the actions we perform. I believe that a real solution to the issues raised by the controversy surrounding SOCE will come only from a careful and through analysis of the starting point of our understanding of ourselves. Meanwhile, the Task Force, as reported in this symposium is intellectually unpersuasive.

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By Phelim McIntyre

A look at how we can show compassion without compromise concerning the homosexual community

By Joe Carter, First Things

When it comes to homosexuality, those who support gay rights don't often find themselves agreeing with conservative Christians. Advances in biomedical technology, however, should push the two groups to agree that the biological basis for the homosexual orientation is irrelevant. Although their motivations may differ, each side has reasons for promoting the idea that sexual activity is freely chosen behavior.

Gay rights activists have, of course, been working against this idea for decades. They have been eager to find a genetic, hormonal, or neurological explanation for sexual orientation, which, they believe, will remove any doubt that individuals have no choice about their sexuality—and society will have no choice but to accept their sexual behavior as natural and normal.

Ironically, such an explanation could have just the opposite effect of what they hope for. As the Los Angeles Times recently reported, a prenatal pill used to prevent ambiguous genitalia may reduce the chance that a female with the disorder will be gay. A bioethicist quoted in the story worried that the treatment could lead to "engineering in the womb for sexual orientation."

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The Jonah Institute in Cooperation with The Celebration of Being Presents: The Noble Man

Register by September 11th and Save $200

Workshop Dates:
Thursday, November 11th from 7:00 PM thru Sunday, November 14th 3:00 PM

Prices:
Before September 11th – $695 (save $200)
Before October 11th – $795 (save $100)
After October 11th – $895

Are you looking to heal old wounds with the women in your life, and be able to start afresh in love? Are you tired of the same old dynamics that keep you separate, alone and isolated from women?

This workshop will help you experience your full and authentic self. Join us to learn about and experience this energy of love, healing, and transformation of yourself as a man.

Location:
New Hope, Pennsylvania

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By David Mills, First Things

By Peter J Smith, LifeSite News

The departure of several more congregations in central Illinois from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has once again highlighted how the denomination’s decision to approve active homosexual clergy has triggered a slow, steady bleeding of congregations.

One year ago this month at its national convention, the ELCA voted "to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships."

The policy change was decided by more than 100 votes – 559 in favor to 451 against; but since the vote the ELCA has both dropped in members and congregations.

According to Illinois’s News-Gazette, at least three more churches have initiated the process to leave the ELCA, which claims a membership of 10,400 congregations and 4.6 million baptized members. Under the ELCA’s rules congregations that wish to disaffiliate themselves must take two votes passing by a two-thirds majority to leave, with a 90 day consultation period with the local bishop scheduled between the votes. The congregation officially cuts off ties with the denomination upon passage of the second vote.

The journal reports that by the end of June, 462 congregations had cast their first votes to leave the ELCA, with 312 adopting the resolution. Of these, 196 congregations have taken their second vote, with only 11 congregations opting not to leave the ELCA.

The pastors of three Lutheran churches in Illinois told the News-Gazette that they were leaving the ELCA over concerns that the denomination was no longer faithful to the biblical basis of the Church’s teaching, especially when it comes to teachings on sin and salvation.

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By Rosally Saltsman, The Jewish Press  Hat-tip:  JONAH

The phoenix is a bird mentioned in the Gemara. He rises from the ashes and is reborn every so often. While we may all envy this trait of the phoenix, some people are actually able to emulate him.

Sue (not here real name) is one such person. An artist in her fifties, originally from the States, now living in Israel she has begun a new life. "Every single decision I made, I made again," she said, including what kind of person she wants to be with.

Sue was in a lesbian relationship for 16 years. She and her partner shared a house, a business and an adopted child. Sue was satisfied and things could have remained that way forever. But they didn't. Sue's partner became ill and when she had recovered, she decided she wanted a different life and left the relationship.

Sue took a good look at her life and decided she didn't want to be involved with that lifestyle anymore.

"I decided I would be alone forever and was willing to live with that. Then I saw something on JONAH's (Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing) website, a quote by Rav Kamentezky: 'The Torah doesn't demand something from us that we can't do.' I sat with that for months. And I decided that I was going to try to remake myself."

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By Peter J Smith, LifeSite News

Rev. Tom Brock is a senior pastor at Hope Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis who recently became the center of a controversy after his personal struggles with same-sex attraction were made public. Earlier in June, an undercover journalist with the Minnesota-based homosexual publication “Lavender” infiltrated and exposed Brock's attendance at a local chapter of Courage, a Catholic-run, prayer-based support group for men struggling with unwanted same-sex attractions. 

Brock, 57 years old and a virgin by his own admission, says that he has never engaged in homosexual behavior. A two-week investigation by his church, a member of the conservative Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, confirmed that no evidence exists to the contrary.

“Lavender” admitted they did the story to discredit Brock, who has been outspoken in his defense of traditional marriage and who has criticized the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for allowing individuals in active homosexual relationships to serve as clergy.

Brock returned to his pulpit at Hope Lutheran Church last Sunday for the first time since he was put on administrative leave while the church’s task force conducted its inquiry. He was welcomed back with a standing ovation.

Now in an interview with LifeSiteNews.com (LSN), Brock speaks about the public controversy, his ministry, his personal cross of same-sex attraction, his desire to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and the Bible’s teachings, and the forgiveness of one’s enemies. But most importantly, he tells LSN that his ordeal has strengthened his witness to the hope, healing, and forgiveness that all people can find in Christ.

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By R R Reno, First Things

Recently, Kenneth Howell, an adjunct professor who worked for Newman Center at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, was told by his department chair that he could no longer teach there. His offense: explaining and clarifying the Catholic moral teaching on homosexuality while teaching a class on Catholicism. A couple of students complained to the department chair with the usual charge: his moral reasoning is hate speech that creates a hostile environment for gays and lesbians.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Keeton, a student at Augusta State University in Georgia, was forced to undergo "sensitivity training." Her offense: believing Christian teaching on homosexuality. She was told that if she did not change her moral beliefs and affirm homosexuality, she could not graduate with a degree in counseling.

Note the difference. Ken Howell did not insist that students believe or affirm the reasoned Catholic arguments against the moral legitimacy of homosexual acts. Rather, he required students who had chosen to taken an elective course on Catholicism to know and engage those arguments.

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From An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy

This short broadcast can be viewed here.  

The Revd Peter Ould points out 'that I had no editorial control over what was eventually broadcast, so there was plenty of stuff that I talked about that didn’t make the final cut and also what you saw was not necessarily filmed in the same order.'

By Dale O'Leary, LifeSite News

The debate over therapy for same-sex attraction (SSA) and gender identity disorder (GID) has been going on for years. Recently, the APA put out a paper designed to resolve the issue. However, the introduction of the APA’s Task Force Report on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation defines the parameters for the discussion in such a way that the defenders of therapy for SSA and GID are positioned in the worst possible light. The issue is essentially decided in favor of gay-affirming therapy before the evidence is heard.

From Line in the Sand

At the moment the largest research project into the possibility of genetic causation of homosexuality is under way by a team from North Shore University Health System Research Institute, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and University of Illinois at Chicago. But will they find anything of worth?

Unlike the study by Dean Hamer this study is looking for multiple genetic factors that influence sexual orientation and unlike the Hamer study, which looked only at brothers, the researchers want DNA from parents as well as brothers who are gay.

The potential area of failure, as with other gene studies, is that no DNA samples are being asked for from non-gay/heterosexual siblings. Why is this important? The study is looking for similarities between the genetic make up of gay siblings. But what if the two gay brothers have one or more straight brothers. If they do not have the same genetic markers then all is fine, but if they do this raises a number of issues. The first is whether the straight brother as heterosexual as he claims or is he actually in denial of his true sexuality? If we accept that the brother is as straight as he claims we then need to ask whether the genetic markers are as much of a factor as the researchers and media would probably claim.

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A Dean Byrd, PhD, MBA, MPH,  NARTH