Revoice Conference hosted by PCA Church

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Silas22

Puritan Board Freshman
I was made aware of this conference via email today. Per their website, their mission is to encourage, support, and empower gay, lesbian, and other same-sex-attracted Christians so they can experience the life-giving character of the historic, Christian sexual ethic.

Also per their mission statement-
We believe that the Bible restricts sexual activity to the context of a marriage covenant, which is defined in the Bible as the emotional, spiritual, and physical union of a man and a woman that is ordered toward procreation. At the same time, we also believe that the Bible honors those who live out an extended commitment to celibacy, and that unmarried people should play a uniquely valuable role in the lives of local faith communities. Together, these two convictions constitute the “traditional sexual ethic,” because it represents the worldview that the Bible consistently teaches across both the Old and New Testaments and that Christians have historically believed for millennia.

Should I be confused by this? I did a little investigating and discovered the blog of Nate Collins, founder of Revoice and who is ssa. Collins defines the word "gay" as being:
First, the way the word "gay" is mostly commonly used today is to refer to an orientation identity, and not to a specific pattern of behavior that Christians would think of as sinful. In other words, when most people hear the word "gay", they don't think of actual behavior, but instead a pattern of desire. I would say that these desires are inevitably experienced at some point as fallen desires, but that the sanctifying work of Christ can redeem some of them (the nonsexual ones). By analogy, nonstraight orientations are like a disability... in other words, the phrase "gay Christian" is more like the phrase "blind Christian" than "prideful Christian." https://www.allbutinvisible.com/blog/2017/9/18/on-the-phrase-gay-christian

As I understand it, when Collins uses the term gay he is referring to desire and not behavior. So same-sex attraction refers to an individuals sinful inclination (he even refers to it as a disability) but not necessarily a pattern of behavior. In my opinion the word "gay" is entirely too loaded for such a narrow definition, just as the word heterosexual refers to both desire and behaviors.

Due to this narrow definition, Collins and others have no problem labeling people as LGBT+ Christians. I have no problem loving and extending grace to my LGBT+ neighbor, but I do have a problem with believers identifying themselves by their sinful orientations. Why would any faithful, bible-believing Christian identify themselves by their fallen nature?

In my opinion, the vague use of the term "gay" is dishonest to both ssa individuals (why not use the term ssa?) and conservative evangelicals alike. Neither party, I fear, will assume such a narrowness of terms, as demonstrated by attendees coming from conservative and liberal churches.

The Revoice conference is being held at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, MO. Register now and sign up for these workshops:

  • How to be a straight ally
  • Parents of LGBT children (or adult children)
  • Healing from spiritual abuse
  • Christianity and LGBT history
  • Mixed-orientation marriage
  • Finding community as a nonstraight person
  • Celibacy
  • LGBTQ culture
  • Evangelism and secular LGBT communities
  • Pastoral care for gender and sexual minorities
  • Core needs and human flourishing
  • Boundaries and relationships
  • Nontraditional families
  • Interpreting Biblical texts that mention same-gender sexuality
  • Making your church a haven for sexual minorities (for pastors)
  • Living in community
  • The coming out process
  • Race and sexuality
  • Mental health and gender and sexual minorities
 
Are any of the speakers PCA officers or is just a PCA congregation lending its meeting space?
 
From the church's website, it appears that the congregation has seen better days.
 
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