Steve Chalke: Why I've created a church charter for gay marriage | Opn | Premier Christiany

Contents:

• STEVE CHALKE AND GAY MARRIAGE: HOW CLIVE N EVANGELILS BE?
• THE RADIL EVANGELIL WHOSE SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE IS ROCKG HIS FIELD
• STEVE CHALKE: WHY I'VE CREATED A CHURCH CHARTER FOR GAY MARRIAGE
• STEVE CHALKE CHANG HIS MD OVER GAY MARRIAGE
• STEVE CHALKE BACKS GAY RELATNSHIPS
• ED SHAW: WHY YOUR CHURCH SHOULDN'T SIGN STEVE CHALKE'S CHARTER FOR GAY MARRIAGE
• STEVE CHALKE’S OASIS CHURCH TO OFFER GAY MARRIAG

STEVE CHALKE AND GAY MARRIAGE: HOW CLIVE N EVANGELILS BE?

Steve Chalke's Oasis Church has lnched an 'Inclivy Charter' says is "a new iative which has been created to support church seekg to be clive of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr people". This uld be a rnerstone for buildg posive mental health the gay muny. Brish Baptists urged not to host gay weddgsBrish Baptists and gay marriage: will spl the nomatn?

The on that thk homosexuals will burn for their errant ways unls they are "cured" by prayer.

Now that he has reposned his views on homosexualy, is he still an evangelil? Signifintly, however, the rpons have all affirmed that while they do not share Chalke's radil biblil hermentic, they agree that the church needs to rensir s disposns toward gay li a potentially far-reachg nsequence for the evangelil movement: given the relative succs of Chalke's work and the rpect he has built the Brish public sphere, the domant nservativ n no longer sually dismiss his views.

THE RADIL EVANGELIL WHOSE SUPPORT FOR GAY MARRIAGE IS ROCKG HIS FIELD

What Chalke has achieved, then, is not only an impassned and much-need attempt at a rapprochement between Christian and homosexual cultur, but also the rvg out of a legimate and fensible liberal terrory an otherwise reactnary and morally troverted evangelil field. The qutn of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr cln is a divisive one for the Church, but one which, the end, is about somethg much bigger than simply the issue of Church uny. It found that gay and bisexual men unr the age of 26 are six tim more likely to attempt suici or self-harm pared to gay and bisexual men aged over 45, and are also twice as likely to be prsed or anx.

Crilly, however, the rearch team also found that gay and bisexual men who are habg wh a male partner are 50% ls likely to suffer om prsn, pared to those livg the light of the fdgs, I ll on all rponsible Church lears to re-evaluate their attu to LGBT people and to work to regnise and sanctify fahful, life-long, monogamo, same-sex relatnships. Evangelil Alliance rponds to Steve Chalke over Gay MarriageThe general director of the Evangelil Alliance, Steve Clifford, believ Steve Chalke is wrong to nclu that the Bible endors same-sex relatnships. At a Soul Survivor semar last summer, a Baptist mister who liv wh same-sex attractn troduced his talk to a marquee full of young people by ditg that he would love to fd a theology the Bible which would support a sexually-active gay life.

Last year, the Evangelil Alliance produced a rource for lears entled Biblil and Pastoral Rpons to Homosexualy - put together by a missn of eight and peer reviewed by 40.

STEVE CHALKE: WHY I'VE CREATED A CHURCH CHARTER FOR GAY MARRIAGE

It follows on om the highly rpected Fah, Hope and Homosexualy book produced some 14 years ago, bg a clear and succct statement of biblil teachg on marriage and sexualy. It exprsed regret for the Church's past and prent failure relatn to the lbian and gay muny.

"Mr Chalke, who a few weeks ago nducted his first gay blsg service his church Waterloo, says that the Bible pats a far more clive picture than many acknowledge, " wr Tim newspaper relign rrponnt Ruth Gledhill an article entled 'Evangelils' lear backs gay marriage'.

STEVE CHALKE CHANG HIS MD OVER GAY MARRIAGE

Back 2001, Chalke wrote an article for the same magaze (then lled Christiany and Renewal) entled 'What might J say to Roy Clements about the Church and the Homosexual bate? The Rev Roy Clements was a major lear who rigned his pastoral role and was ejected om the Evangelil Alliance, followg two s of high profile mistry, when he revealed that he was gay, left his wife and began a relatnship wh another man. Clements ntu to practice "solidly Bible-based exposory preachg", and he and Chalke, whose views then echoed the majory evangelil posn agast gay relatnships, engaged a rrponnce.

STEVE CHALKE BACKS GAY RELATNSHIPS

This eveng (14 January 2013) Pl Vallely, associate edor of the Inpennt newspaper, and a lumnist for the Christian social ment magaze Third Waytweeted that Steve Chalke is "to publish a special lurgy for gay partnerships on his Oasis chary webse tomorrow wh full evangelil pro-gay exegis. Wh his latt ments, Chalke will now be numbered among a growg number of signifint evangelils on both sis of the Atlantic who are argug that mment to the Bible and tradnal Christian belief is not patible wh regnisg fahful gay relatnships.

ED SHAW: WHY YOUR CHURCH SHOULDN'T SIGN STEVE CHALKE'S CHARTER FOR GAY MARRIAGE

But a growg number of adherents don't see that way, " nclud Jerome Taylor a recent article on evangelils changg their md about 'the gay issue' for the Inpennt newspaper. If Romans 1 refers to Cybele temple prostutn, how do the mentn of female homosexualy that passage f wh the fact that Cybele female prostut were never homosexual? If the rrect pastoral rponse is to affirm homosexual behavur wh monogamo mted upl, what is your opn of groups like Te Freedom Tst who help gay Christians live a sgle chaste life or other pastoral support which helps men and women explore their past and sometim tablish new sexual inti?

Baptist Mister Steve Chalke, who has a mass followg Charismatic Christian circl, has changed his md on Gay marriage, that has been domatg our headl and is votg favour. Casual and self-centred exprsns of sexualy – homosexual or heterosexual – never reflect God’s fahfulns, grace and self-givg love. Numero studi show that suici rat among gay people, pecially the young, are paratively high.

Church lears sometim e this data to argue that homosexualy is unhealthy when tragilly ’s anti-gay stigma, propped up by Church attus, which all too often driv the statistics”“I believe that when we treat homosexual people as pariahs and ph them outsi our muni and church, when we blame them for what they are, when we ny them our blsg on their mment to lifelong, fahful relatnships, we make them doubt whether they are children of God, ma his image”“So, I face a hard choice; a choice between the current domant view of what scripture tells about this issue, and the one I hontly thk pots to. Even this I realise my self-centredns, for no rejectn I might suffer is anythg pared to what so many homosexual people endure all their liv”Tim Pearson, Director of The Way says “ I feel really sad as a supporter and admirer of Steve Chalke that he has taken this cisn to move away om what scripture so clearly stat, both the old and new ttaments.

STEVE CHALKE’S OASIS CHURCH TO OFFER GAY MARRIAG

It is also a unn that provis stabily for Children, which many surveys have nfirmed provis better adjted adults, parison to homosexual or lbian the current legislatn for Gay marriage go through, will open the flood gat for people to have a polygamo marriage, adultery will bee a byword, as will have no meang and pedophil will have a foundatn to build their se for unr age relatnships. The gay premise is that if you n enjoy a long term lovg relatnship, mak OK. Sir Elton is an atheist who the past argued that J was gay and would have supported gay marriage.