Not to spoil the party, but . . .
Submitted by Heather on September 09 1999 at 21:15:34
In reply to Gays are welcome in many churches, and... Submitted by d on September 09 1999 at 20:30:39
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"If you made a point of not interacting with kids you would eventually be accepted by parents." Let's all move to d's church; it sounds as though it's one-of-a-kind. :) Seriously, though, the situation is quite sad out there, at least from the official point of view. Typical is the Church of England's new policy on sex offenders, which advises congregations to welcome former sex offenders but requires that they stay strictly separate from children. This policy has already been criticized for being too lenient. Ah, you say, but we're not talking about sex offenders. Alas, I've received replies back from sixteen Christian denominations so far on their policies toward pedophiles, and not a single one is aware that celibate pedophiles exist, even though I've been explicitly asking for information concerning celibate pedophiles. In the eyes of the denominations, everyone here is a sex offender who hasn't struck yet. On the local level, I think that the picture is probably a lot better – Bach and Mark's experiences testify to that. Incidentally, the same is true of gays and ex-gays – at a time when the denominational policies were harsh toward them (a time which still exists, needless to say), they were able to find support in local faith communities. So I think that it all depends on where you go to church, which means (I'm sorry to say) that one probably has to do a little shopping around. (Incidentally, I echo d in saying that it should be relatively easy to find a congregation that will show acceptance toward a same-gender-attracted person, particularly if you're celibate.) By the way, Chris, it's too bad you weren't at the Christian Consultation on Boylove; we did some singing there. :) Heather |