Apology text

An apology to my LGBTIQ+ friends, and to all who have been adversely affected by Christian teaching and behaviour

Speaking for myself and as a member of my church, I ask for your forgiveness:

  1. For being too slow to acknowledge that we need to say sorry to you.
  2. For not speaking up against the hurtful, damaging and often violent mistreatment you have been subjected to.
  3. For carelessly speaking about you, without first listening to you.
  4. For perpetuating stereotypes without taking full account of your actual lived experiences.
  5. For neglecting or refusing to correct misinformation about you.For not creating safe environments within our churches where people can speak openly and honestly about their struggles and understandings.For talking to you, or about you, in such a way as to suggest that sexual and/or gender differences are not part of your true identity as creatures made in the image of God, but are simply a result of brokenness or sin.
  6. For perpetuating the mistaken belief that non-heterosexual orientations can successfully be treated or healed.
  7. For recommending and/or validating sexual orientation-change efforts which have been shown to be ineffective.
  8. For not acknowledging that Christians who are seeking to be faithful to their Lord and to the Scriptures are coming to different conclusions on matters of gender, sexual difference and same-sex marriage.

We commit ourselves to:

  1. honour and support you in every way possible
  2. be open to your correction and gentle guidance
  3. hold others to account for careless, harmful or misleading talk
  4. stand up against all forms of homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and intersexphobia
  5. resist all efforts to ‘other’ you or exclude you from the fellowship of the church
  6. remain open to the possibility that we are wrong in our thinking and/or behaviour