A member since 1988, Portland Fellowship has announced that is has left the Exodus International network in a recent newsletter (PDF).
Portland Fellowship has removed its affiliation with Exodus until changes in leadership take place and the mission is restored.
Jason Thompson, executive director of Portland Fellowship, goes on to list the two issues that have brought about this split. Referring to the recent changes at Exodus, where Alan Chambers has said that 99.9% of the people he knows have not changed their sexual orientation and that he expects to see his “gay Christian brothers and sisters” in heaven, Thompson says:
The problem for many Exodus ministries, including Portland Fellowship, is the two-fold message; 1) there is no eternal reason to seek repentance for the self-identified and practicing ‘Gay Christian’; and 2) that change simply isn’t a goal or a strong reality for the majority. So what is the point of Exodus? At the recent annual Exodus conference, Alan opens the conference by answering the question with, “the answer that came to mind was the thing I was looking for was I didn’t want to be alone anymore.”
Thompson has shown himself to be somewhat moderate and approachable in the past. He was one of the few from Exodus to attend the Ex-Gay Survivors event in 2007. However, towards the end of this letter, he recommends that people read Robert Gagnon’s 34 page screed (PDF) rebutting Chamber’s recent statements.
Gagnon’s ultra-conservative views, rabid obsession with homosexuality, and tendency to write lengthy position papers in response to just about everything make him an odd choice for someone like Thompson, or so we might have thought.
The letter does not make it clear if Portland Fellowship will be joining the splinter group, Restored Hope Network, but it seems a safe assumption.
H/T: Norm!
So, then, if you’re still actually engaged in any kind of sin whatsoever when you die, Jason Thompson doesn’t want you to be able to go to heaven? What happened to that John 3:16 business? Or Romans 3:23? I’m not at all convinced that homosexual behavior is any universally a sin even according to the Bible as read, but even if you accept that as a given, the notion that gay Christians don’t get to go to heaven doesn’t make sense. Heaven would be incredibly empty if you had to have ceased doing anything even vaguely disobedient permanently before passing, and Hell would be running out of places to put all the people who hated their mothers and had sexy thoughts about people other than their spouses…
Massif eh– all you have to do is keep sinnin’ and repentin’, sinnin’ and repentin’. No actual holiness required.
You know, I don’t know of any other “sin” other than homosexuality that requires such an immense “struggle.” Yeah, people will have difficulties in breaking the habits of gossiping or lying. And immense things like substance abuse often require medical intervention, but nobody is born an alcoholic or a heroin addict. You have to first have a drink, or use a needle. There are things like damaging paraphilias, such as pedophilia – I suppose those might involve “struggle” – but heterosexuals will so often trot out “drunkenness, drug addiction, gossiping, lying, etc.” as the sins that “they too struggle with, just like homosexuality.” Except it ISN’T “just like homosexuality” – homosexuals have inclinations toward those of the same sex just as heteros have inclinations toward those of the opposite sex, in the exact same way, except for the gender of the person. Except the sexual “sins” of heteros can be abated with marriage, the homo “sins” cannot (because gay marriage is against God, natch).
Bearing this in mind, is there any other sin one must struggle against like homosexuality?
I think sin is always a struggle. God wants to make us like Jesus and we always fall short, then we die and he completes the process of making us like his Son. Maybe the struggle protects us from the greater sin of conceit.
I’m divorced and I find this a double whammy. I miss having the Biblically Kosher sexual outlet. I miss the comfort of knowing I belong to someone. I want to stay pure. It is a struggle and I often fall short and dissappoint myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever heal enough to get married again. Maybe I will just end up having to struggle for purity the rest of my life. Maybe I’d be better off having not gotten married and then hurt. Everyone clearly has struggles, in some ways they are the same, in some ways different, but we all have them.
I take some comfort in Paul’s words, “Jesus Christ came into the World to save sinners, of whom I am the chief.”
Interesting site here and very informative of some contrasting viewpoints. Thanks!
@Emily K
As you point out all scripture must be understood in light of scripture. Doesn’t it say in the Psalms, “the sum of thy word is truth.”?
You can create all kinds of errors if you take a verse out of context for sure.
@Nassifeh
Here ya go, Emily.
Judging others.
Doing unto others– first.
All of us MAY be sinners. Not all of us are throweing stones.
It seems like the only true “struggle” is with “sins” that are sexual in nature. How stilted. Sexuality is a natural form of human outlet, and asceticism like what Paul endorsed is cruel to humans not called to it. To force humans into such a shallow interpretation of sexuality (either get married and have sex or do not do anything sexual at all because it’s DIRTY and LESS THAN WHAT GOD INTENDS). Such extremes are not healthy. I know that sexuality creates all sorts of conflict and entanglements – we’re emotional creatures as well as sexual, after all – but I disagree that such “purity” needs to be foisted upon one’s self in order to be a worthy human being.
(then again, most Christians who are foisting this type of “purity” will probably counter with “none of us are worthy,” but it just seems to devolve into a form of self-flagellation from there. What’s the point in putting trust in a deity by declaring one’s self unworthy if one only ultimately uses it as a tool for self-hatred instead of as a tool for freedom?)
Even more basic, if this faith we have in God enables us to treat each other badly, then what good is it? At what point do we stop and say, “this isn’t right” even if we think our faith compels it? How much of our reason must we give up to believe?
Plenty of things I struggle with besides sexual purity, but I was trying to think of what compared with your question. I guess I should have realized better the rhetorical nature of your point. I’m not really qualified to judge anyone and wasn’t trying to offend.
As for being worthy of a perfect person dying for you, who could ever be? Yet apparently we are worth that to God since while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. People have intrinsic value.
@Mike B
How do you know that? Serious question, not trying to be argumentative.