Groups Intensifying Efforts to "Redeem" Homosexuals

The efforts to "change" GLBT people to straight people are racheting up with new pushes by two organizations.


First, the Christian Post reports on expanded efforts by "ex-gay" group Exodus International:


In the past three decades, Exodus has challenged churches and the wider public who respond to homosexuals with ignorance and fear as well as those who uphold homosexuality as a valid orientation. And over the last five years since Alan Chambers stepped into presidency, the ex-gay organization has increased its number of member ministries to over 130 as well as its involvement in public policy issues and has become a prominent voice on gender issues, particularly in the wake of the Ted Haggard sex-and-drugs scandal.


Last summer, Exodus launched the Exodus Church Network, declaring itself a ministry of the church. Currently with 40 churches aligned to its network, Exodus helps churches to stand boldly on the truth of Scripture with regard to homosexuality, to minister to individuals struggling with unwanted homosexuality, and to create a nationwide referral list of churches for those searching for a church that will walk alongside them in their journey.


This report only prints one side of the issue and fails to mention how organizations like Exodus, by spreading the "ex-gay" myth, have destroyed lives and helped drive people to suicide.


The Southern Baptist Convention is also beginning a new initiative to "redeem" gay people. From Ethics Daily:


The Southern Baptist Convention is hiring a minister specializing in "gender issues" to help churches reach out and minister to homosexuals, without condoning same-sex relationships.
On Friday, Bob Stith, after retiring as pastor of Carroll Baptist Church in Southlake, Texas, becomes director of Southern Baptists' Ministry to Homosexuals Task Force.

Thirteen years ago Stith began to feel guilty about negative attitudes toward homosexuals coming across in his own preaching. He got involved in Exodus International, a Christian ministry that leads people out of homosexuality, and Living Hope, a non-denominational Exodus referral agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

In 2001 Stith made a motion at the SBC annual meeting to establish a task force "to inform, educate, and encourage our people to be proactive and redemptive in reaching out to those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions." (The SBC didn't exactly rush into this did they?)


Stith told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that no one in his church or family had struggled with homosexuality. (No, they're probably tucked away in the closet)

"In all honesty, my preaching about it had been negative, focusing on biblical passages about sin but not redemption," he said. "Those who heard me preach would never have come to me for help. When I realized that, it broke my heart. This ministry is just something God put on my heart."

Stith's softer rhetoric contrasts with earlier statements by Southern Baptists denouncing homosexuality--such as the 1996 Disney boycott that targeted the company for providing domestic-partner benefits to gays--but it doesn't sway gay-rights groups like Soulforce and the Human Rights Campaign, who believe "ex-gay" outreach ministries do more harm than good.


I point these items out because it just makes it more impairative that GLBT Christians and their allies stand up and speak out, allowing THEIR message of God's love and redemption to carry the day. We needs to minimize the damage Exodus, the SBC, and any other groups that want people to deny who they are to conform to their limited understanding can do.