FAQ 25: What is Ekklesia’s approach to the sexuality row in the churches?

We are signatories of both the Inclusive Church declaration and the affirmation of Accepting Evangelicals. That means we back the full membership and participation of lesbian and gay persons in the life and ministry of the Christian community – something which, we would want to say, flows from a necessary and careful consideration of the central premises of the whole Gospel message, not from arguing about a few misappropriated and misapplied ‘proof texts’.

In other words, we think that there are good traditional, biblical and theological reasons for the churches to repent of their hostility to same-sex relationships and of their homophobia, as was the case in the past with scripturally-defended slavery. A paper on the subject is available in our research section.

Since the current sad argument within the churches over human sexuality and the status of LGBTQI+ people is mainly presented in the media as a fight between ‘liberals’ and ‘evangelicals’, Ekklesia has given priority, once more, to voices who wish to challenge this simple and misleading polarity.

But we have also criticised the tenor of the debate as a whole, and have supported the view that it can be more hopeful for a community to argue peaceably than to split forcibly. Not, however, at the expense of imposing injustice on those at the sharp end of these arguments.

We have recently (2016) published two books in this area: Savi Hensman's Sexuality, Struggle and Saintliness: same-sex love and the church, and Jayne Ozanne's Journeying in Grace and Truth: revisiting scripture and sexuality.  Back to FAQs