Sound The Trumpet : ‘We’ve Hurt People:’ Christian Group Devoted to ‘Curing Homosexuality,’ Shuts Down, Apologizes to Ga

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“‘We’ve Hurt People:’ Christian Group Devoted to ‘Curing Homosexuality,’ Shuts Down, Apologizes to Ga”
by National Post (excerpts)
June 21st, 2013

The president of a leading Christian ministry dedicated to helping gays repress their sexual urges through prayer has apologized to the gay community and says the group is shutting down.

Alan Chambers, in a statement posted Thursday on Exodus International’s website, said the group wants to apologize to the gay community “for years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the church as a whole.”

Chambers also made an apology in a speech to his ministry’s annual conference, saying, “We’ve hurt people.”

“While there has been so much good at Exodus, there has also been bad,” he said. “We’ve fought the culture war, and we’ve lost. It’s time for peace.”

Exodus International, which is based in Orlando, Fla., was founded 37 years ago and claimed 260 member ministries around the U.S. and internationally. For decades, it offered to help conflicted Christians rid themselves of unwanted homosexual inclinations through counseling and prayer, infuriating gay rights activists in the process.

Exodus had seen its influence wane in recent years as mainstream associations representing psychiatrists and psychologists rejected its approach. However, the idea that gays could be “converted” to heterosexuality through prayer persists among some evangelicals and fundamentalists.

The announcement that Exodus would close was not a total surprise. Last year, Chambers – who is married to a woman but has spoken openly about his own sexual attraction to men – said he was trying to distance his ministry from the idea that gays’ sexual orientation can be permanently changed or “cured.”

In his statement Thursday, Chambers said the board of Exodus had decided to close it and form a new ministry, which he referred to as reducefear.org.

“Our goals are to reduce fear and come alongside churches to become safe, welcoming, and mutually transforming communities,” he said.

Some of Exodus’ former followers – disenchanted by Chambers’ evolution – had formed a new group called the Restored Hope Network, which calls itself an “ex-gay ministry” and continues to promote the idea that gays can be converted to heterosexuality.

Editors Note....The homosexual agenda is rolling over the whole of society, Sodom and Gohmorrah is back.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13