The wall that shuts us out has a few cracks

Anthony Venn-Brown, an Australian gay evangelical, sees signs that the Fundie view of gays as an abomination is starting to crumble. He begins with a thanks to Troy Perry, founder of Metropolitan Christian Churches in 1968, who showed it was possible to be both gay and Christian. Other pioneers in various denominations have followed.

Now, even asking the question of when we might see the end of homophobia in the church means the debate is already won.

Signs:

* A switch from "gays go to hell" to "gays go to hell if they practice their homosexuality." Yeah, that doesn't look like much but it is a baby step in the right direction.
* 100 Australian ministers signed an apology to the gay community and 35 risked their jobs even more by actually marching in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras this year.
* There are gay pastors in many churches in several denominations. Fundie churches are watching.
* There are many individual churches that are declaring themselves to be welcoming to gays.
* Evidence is mounting that ex-gay ministries are a sham (a participant is told "you'll always walk with a limp" [always have to deal with same-sex attraction]) and former ministry leaders are apologizing.
* Documentaries, such as For the Bible Tells Me So, are showing that being gay and Christian are compatible.
* Gay bookstores and Christian bookstores are starting to carry books about how to be gay and Christian.
* A lot of straight people sitting in the pews disagree with prohibitive denominational positions.

So why don't church leaders take the initiative and welcome gays?

* The higher one goes in Christian hierarchy the less contact one has with the non-Christian world.
* Church leaders fear schism

But gays can be a blessing and a gift to the church, teaching it useful lessons.

* A lot of the creative arts in the church come from gay hands and voices.
* We teach the church about how to be non-judgmental. The connection between homosexuality and immorality is so strong many people believe they know what our lives are like. To accept us as we are they have to let go of judgment.
* In dealing with gays the church will be led from law, judgment, and scriptural authority to be a church of grace.
* The church will encounter what unconditional love means and will stop using "Love the sinner, hate the sin."

Change is coming through pastors and other church people having the experience that Peter had in Acts 10:9-30. In the last few verses God told Peter not to declare as unclean things that God has declared to be clean. Then comes institutional change, as described in Acts 15:1-19 when Paul goes to Jerusalem to argue that gentile Christians do not first have to become Jews (and gay Christians do not first have to become straight). It takes a while to get from Acts 10 to Acts 15.

Challenges ahead.

* Is your church relevant to society? About 60% of the world's population is under 30. Is 60% of your church membership under 30?
* We teach our straight youth to have a grounded sense of morality. It is time to do the same for Christian gay kids too.
* What do we do for gays in foreign cultures that emphasize marriage and pressure gays to conform? How do we influence cultures that kill gays? This is certainly not the only human rights issue in these places.

Focusing on the positives will get us a lot farther. The enemy is ignorance.