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But Lord, They're Gay
From the back cover, written by the In the mid-sixties I was part of a fervent evangelistic team working the streets of San Francisco. Our mission to "Save and Change" homosexuals. Today, I'm still a Christian, still heterosexual, and I pastor a "Gay" congregation of dedicated Christians, where I'm the token "straight". I struggled every step of the way as God led me from truth to truth, understanding to understanding, despite my many years of protesting "But Lord, They're Gay". The Gay/Christian issue is not the cut and dry situation many churches teach today. If you seek answers on the subject, I hope The Pilgrimage on which our Lord has taken me will open your hearts to a "Different" viewpoint.
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May 16, 2024
A KEY FIGURE IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF LGBT PERSONS IN CHRISTIANITY
The Rev. Sylvia Pennington (d. 1991) was an early pioneer in the Christian GLBT community; she was an ordained heterosexual minister in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC).
She explains in the first chapter of this 1982 book that “my mother was still an orthodox Jew and not yet recovered from the disgrace of my ‘turning.’” (Pg. 14)
She recounts, “I was eager to see church friends from Glad Tidings and Teen Challenge. It didn’t take long to realize the absence of the ‘ex-gays whom I especially wanted to see. They weren’t at the church, and I learned that, one by one, they’d all dropped out months before… I was nearing my thirties. I was married. What if someone had told me that in order to walk with Jesus I’d have to give up my husband and live a mateless, sexless life? If I’d been told that at the beginning, what would I have done?” (Pg. 30-31)
She visits (with a gay friend) an MCC church for the first time: “I had mixed emotions about being there, but in my own way I wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry that the rest of the Body of Christ has rejected you, MCC. Perhaps together we can bridge the gap.’ I think I was also saying, ‘God has given me revelations. Now, please prove them to me.’” (Pg. 59)
She returns alone to an evening MCC service, musing. “what if I’d been wrong! What if God’s spirit hadn’t been there that night, and it was just my imagination, or worse yet, deception? … my other fear was that they might look at me scornfully and say, ‘What are you doing here? You don’t belong.’ …The warm greeting at the door alleviated the second fear partially… The Spirit filled the small sanctuary, and again tears came quickly… Relief flooded my being… at least eight or nine people came over to greet me… ‘I’m so glad you’re here. I see Jesus in you.’ No one seemed to be concerned about my sexuality, only my Christianity. Both of my fears proved baseless.” (Pg. 61-62)
Later, she recounts, “the Lord spoke to me. ‘My child, the time has come for you to put away your doubts and your questions. It is time for you to stop tip-toeing in and out of MCC and the gay community. It is time to put all else aside, and with complete abandon, move totally into the gay world. No other church services for you, for MCC is to be your church… It is time to take your place in the gay community. I have spent fifteen years preparing you, training you, molding you for what is now to be your life’s work… Are you willing?” (Pg. 75-76)
She recalls, “God took the time to clarify my understanding of what appeared to be sinful acts. For me, promiscuity … spelled uncontrolled lust. However, through prayer I began to see persons, broken oppressed persons who had spent years hiding themselves, covering up and denying their instincts. They were desperately afraid of being found out to be a ‘freak,’ which is what our society deemed them to be. Repression of their feelings had so damaged their feeling world that the only level on which they could meet and relate was a superficial sexual or sensual one. The agony of wanting to be close to someone, anyone who accepted them, mad quick tricks and one night stands the visible examples of this state of oppression sickness. Through my eyes focused on promiscuity, through God-inspired eyes the issue changed and focused on a broken human being in terrible pain, one for whom our Lord had total compassion and love. Realizing this, my whole perspective changed.” (Pg. 78)
She suggests, “Perhaps, the greatest gay/Christian struggles have occurred in those Christians who had a touch, and a call to ministry in their lives… and who believed that they could not be both gay and Christian. They KNEW that their homosexual mating instinct was not a sin that they had CHOSEN, but rather it was an enigma that they had spent years denying, repressing, and spiritually flagellating themselves for. Every one of them that I have met have prayed, fasted, cried and beseeched God to remove this horrible thing from them. Do we Christians really dare to blithely pass over their anguish and hold on to our label of sin with regard to them? Are we following Jesus? Well, then you can shout as loudly and as long as you want. ‘But Lord, they’re gay…’ and it won’t change a thing.” (Pg. 114)
She points out, “it appeared in MCC I’d finally found an openness to all people, and a loving acceptance of our human and theological differences. MCC’s survival depends on people from diverse backgrounds learning to accept one another as well as making necessary compromises. But sadly, I slowly realized how ‘unliberal’ most of the liberals were. They were humanistic---but bigoted beyond rationality towards fundies’ (fundamentalists), at least in the one-sided church I attended. (This is NOT true of all, or ever most MCCs, but I didn’t know that then.).” (Pg. 119)
She recalls, “So many, many times… gay people have spoken words to me that have touched off new depths of awareness. My life is totally lived in the Gay community now. Almost everyone that I’m close to, and dearly love, is a homosexual. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people think of gays as being strange, odd, perverted, etc. I know I once thought the same way too, but now it amazes me that I, or anyone, could put a ‘people’ down simply for who they love.” (Pg. 158)
She argues, “we are demanding either celibacy, or heterosexual sexual responses from a non-heterosexual person, or no sexuality at all. I know that Jesus said some would be Eunuchs for the Kingdom’s sake, but I don’t believe that our Lord left us a directive to decide who would be the Eunuchs, and who would not.” (Pg. 163)
This book will be of great interest to LGBT Christians, and their sympathisizers.
The Rev. Sylvia Pennington (d. 1991) was an early pioneer in the Christian GLBT community; she was an ordained heterosexual minister in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC).
She explains in the first chapter of this 1982 book that “my mother was still an orthodox Jew and not yet recovered from the disgrace of my ‘turning.’” (Pg. 14)
She recounts, “I was eager to see church friends from Glad Tidings and Teen Challenge. It didn’t take long to realize the absence of the ‘ex-gays whom I especially wanted to see. They weren’t at the church, and I learned that, one by one, they’d all dropped out months before… I was nearing my thirties. I was married. What if someone had told me that in order to walk with Jesus I’d have to give up my husband and live a mateless, sexless life? If I’d been told that at the beginning, what would I have done?” (Pg. 30-31)
She visits (with a gay friend) an MCC church for the first time: “I had mixed emotions about being there, but in my own way I wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry that the rest of the Body of Christ has rejected you, MCC. Perhaps together we can bridge the gap.’ I think I was also saying, ‘God has given me revelations. Now, please prove them to me.’” (Pg. 59)
She returns alone to an evening MCC service, musing. “what if I’d been wrong! What if God’s spirit hadn’t been there that night, and it was just my imagination, or worse yet, deception? … my other fear was that they might look at me scornfully and say, ‘What are you doing here? You don’t belong.’ …The warm greeting at the door alleviated the second fear partially… The Spirit filled the small sanctuary, and again tears came quickly… Relief flooded my being… at least eight or nine people came over to greet me… ‘I’m so glad you’re here. I see Jesus in you.’ No one seemed to be concerned about my sexuality, only my Christianity. Both of my fears proved baseless.” (Pg. 61-62)
Later, she recounts, “the Lord spoke to me. ‘My child, the time has come for you to put away your doubts and your questions. It is time for you to stop tip-toeing in and out of MCC and the gay community. It is time to put all else aside, and with complete abandon, move totally into the gay world. No other church services for you, for MCC is to be your church… It is time to take your place in the gay community. I have spent fifteen years preparing you, training you, molding you for what is now to be your life’s work… Are you willing?” (Pg. 75-76)
She recalls, “God took the time to clarify my understanding of what appeared to be sinful acts. For me, promiscuity … spelled uncontrolled lust. However, through prayer I began to see persons, broken oppressed persons who had spent years hiding themselves, covering up and denying their instincts. They were desperately afraid of being found out to be a ‘freak,’ which is what our society deemed them to be. Repression of their feelings had so damaged their feeling world that the only level on which they could meet and relate was a superficial sexual or sensual one. The agony of wanting to be close to someone, anyone who accepted them, mad quick tricks and one night stands the visible examples of this state of oppression sickness. Through my eyes focused on promiscuity, through God-inspired eyes the issue changed and focused on a broken human being in terrible pain, one for whom our Lord had total compassion and love. Realizing this, my whole perspective changed.” (Pg. 78)
She suggests, “Perhaps, the greatest gay/Christian struggles have occurred in those Christians who had a touch, and a call to ministry in their lives… and who believed that they could not be both gay and Christian. They KNEW that their homosexual mating instinct was not a sin that they had CHOSEN, but rather it was an enigma that they had spent years denying, repressing, and spiritually flagellating themselves for. Every one of them that I have met have prayed, fasted, cried and beseeched God to remove this horrible thing from them. Do we Christians really dare to blithely pass over their anguish and hold on to our label of sin with regard to them? Are we following Jesus? Well, then you can shout as loudly and as long as you want. ‘But Lord, they’re gay…’ and it won’t change a thing.” (Pg. 114)
She points out, “it appeared in MCC I’d finally found an openness to all people, and a loving acceptance of our human and theological differences. MCC’s survival depends on people from diverse backgrounds learning to accept one another as well as making necessary compromises. But sadly, I slowly realized how ‘unliberal’ most of the liberals were. They were humanistic---but bigoted beyond rationality towards fundies’ (fundamentalists), at least in the one-sided church I attended. (This is NOT true of all, or ever most MCCs, but I didn’t know that then.).” (Pg. 119)
She recalls, “So many, many times… gay people have spoken words to me that have touched off new depths of awareness. My life is totally lived in the Gay community now. Almost everyone that I’m close to, and dearly love, is a homosexual. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people think of gays as being strange, odd, perverted, etc. I know I once thought the same way too, but now it amazes me that I, or anyone, could put a ‘people’ down simply for who they love.” (Pg. 158)
She argues, “we are demanding either celibacy, or heterosexual sexual responses from a non-heterosexual person, or no sexuality at all. I know that Jesus said some would be Eunuchs for the Kingdom’s sake, but I don’t believe that our Lord left us a directive to decide who would be the Eunuchs, and who would not.” (Pg. 163)
This book will be of great interest to LGBT Christians, and their sympathisizers.
July 2, 2020
This is a moving memoir of a straight, Pentecostal preacher who had a change of heart about “God’s Gays.” She writes in a winsome and candid style, which you might expect of someone giving their testimony. I think it’s important to note that her language (especially about gender) tends to be very binary—bisexuals and trans people are absent from her narrative. I would recommend this book to straight Pentecostal Christians who are prepared to hear “a different view” from an ally, but also from gay Christians themselves. I would not recommend that this is the only “gay-affirming” book you read.
August 3, 2011
The journey of one pastors investigation into what the Bible says about homosexuality.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews