Wendy VanderWal-Gritter - Generous Spaciousness: Responding to Gay Christians in the Church

. Alan Chambers, then-president of Exodus International, issued a public apology to the gay community and announced the ministrys closure in June 2013. Having known Alan since the early 2000s, I have been aware of his own journey toward a more generous spaciousness. At the time of publication, Alan and others have announced plans to start a new organization. In the year prior to the closing of Exodus, a number of ministries in the network left Exodus to form a new group called Restored Hope Network. These ministries continue to promote an ex-gay paradigm. See http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/june/alan-chambers-apologizes-to-gay-community-exodus.html.

. Hans Frei cited in Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004), 10.

. Peter Rollins, How ( Not) to Speak of God (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2006), 3.

. It should be noted that the ex-gay system is hardly monolithic and contains a range of diversity.

. Justin Lee founded the Gay Christian Network (GCN) as an online support forum in 2001. GCN welcomes gay Christians and their straight allies across a diverse spectrum of belief and practice. They denote those who believe God affirms committed same-sex relationships as side A and those who hold to a traditional view of marriage and celibacy for gay Christians as side B. The vast majority of GCN members are side A or unsure. A small minority are committed to a side B position. GCN is not supportive of an ex-gay paradigm, but they do intentionally invest in building bridges between the church and gay people and hope to see the church, including all denominations, become a more hospitable place for gay people. Since that episode, Justin and I have become good friends, and I respect him immensely.

. Alan J. Roxburgh, The Sky Is Falling: Leaders Lost in Transition (Eagle, ID: ACI Publishing, 2005).

. Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Not the Way Its Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 79.

. Wendy Gritter, Exodus 2008 Leadership Address, New Direction audio resources, http:///www.newdirection.ca/content.xjp?id=444, accessed July 17, 2013.

. Warren Throckmorton, New Direction for Exodus?, Warren Throckmorton (blog), February 5, 2008, wthrockmorton.com/2008/02/05/new-direction-for-exodus/.

Roberts, Wendy Gritter of Exodus Member Ministry New Direction, Ex-Gay Watch (blog), February 25, 2008, www.exgaywatch.com/2008/02/wendy-gritter-of-exodus-member-ministry-new-direction/. Minor edits have been made to style and syntax.

. Ex-ex-gay or ex-gay survivor are terms describing someone who has invested in the ex-gay process to try to change their sexual orientation and who has left that paradigm and has come out as gay.

. Since writing that post I no longer use the term alternative. One of my gay friends helped me to see that this term could give the impression that sexual identity is a choicean alternative they chose. I do not believe the vast majority of people make a choice about the direction of their attractions. I now try to use the word diverse rather than alternative.