Join the Gay Christadelphian Network!
Launches 1st July 2007
It's the 2nd April 2006 and this site has been on-line for just over a year now and I thought now would be a good time to reflect on the issues the site has raised.
First of all, I am still here. This site has not been abandoned. I am still reading my email. I've got a list of questions that people have sent me, and I'm working through that list, updating the site as I go. I'm trying to do this in as thoughtful a way as I can, which means going slowly.
The responses to this site have surprised me. A year ago I was getting lots of very negative email—I was told I was distorting the word of God, I was told I was destroying the faith of some people, I was told I was in danger of destroying the Christadelphians. Those responses didn't surprise me. As the months passed, the negative emails dropped off, and the number of supportive emails increased. For a few years, I have known that not all Christadelphians take the 'traditional' view of same-sex relationships, yet I have been surprised by how many supportive emails I have received. There have been Christadelphians who don't agree that same-sex relationships are OK, but they regard it as a conscience issue, not a fellowship issue. There are Christadelphians who have never thought about same-sex relationships before, but who are now carefully considering what the Bible has to say about them. And there are Christadelphians who agree with me when I say "The Bible, the word of God, does not oppose same-sex relationships." The majority of emails I now get are supportive in one way or another.
Yes, this site has hurt some people. I know what it is like to make life-changing decisions because of what I believe the Bible says, and I know how painful it is when days, weeks, or years later you realise that the Bible doesn't necessarily say what you thought it said.
Are you a gay Christadelphian who has ended relationships, or rejected possible relationships because you believed that the Bible said they are wrong? Then, in this paragraph, I am talking to you. Yes, it hurts if you end a relationship because you think the Bible says it is wrong. And yes, it hurts if you later find out the Bible doesn't necessarily say what you thought it did. Seeing this site will hurt. Seeing this site will bring back difficult memories. But sites like this one are needed so that people like us don't make the same mistakes in the future. Sites like this can help to spare others the pain we have suffered.
There has been a witch-hunt to find out who I am, and I know of several people who have been badly hurt by this witch-hunt. It it not this site that has hurt those people. They have been hurt by the witch-hunters, not me. I know one of the innocent victims very well, and I know she does not resent this site. If you are an innocent victim, contact me and I'll try and help you.
Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world
Matthew 25:34, NIV