Church takes stand against gay vilification
Safe Place banner over the church door of the Eastside Parish of the Uniting Church in Australia |
I think it is appropriate to ask questions of a Church concerned with family values whether it is now turning a blind eye to those with the most to lose among its membership. How can the Church espouse such values when lesbian and gay members and ministers are made to question their right to belong and even asked to suffer for their faith within their own church family? Ministers creating the recent conservative backlash need to take responsibility for their words and actions. We have heard stories of families being torn apart, of taunts of hatred and vilification occurring in church meetings, of calls to action designed to hurt the larger Church through economic boycotts, and a hit list of individuals and parishes being compiled. The Church needs to counter the new environment of hatred and fear and the perception fostered by the Rev Dr Gordon Moyes of the Wesley Mission that the Uniting Church was not safe for homosexuals. I heard of a minister, who felt he acted correctly by casting his own son out of the family home because he was gay. He felt that was expected of him in being a minister. Rev Rod Pattenden Eastside Uniting Church Sydney, Australia. our safe place resources:
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