People suffering as a result of unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion should be allowed to seek professional help, and the Church must offer a more hopeful message than simply telling them to be celibate for the rest of their lives, an international gathering has heard.
Over 140 Christian therapists from around the world are meeting in Poland this weekend to strategise about how they can support people struggling with unwanted attractions or behaviours at a time when many countries have either banned or are considering banning so-called 'conversion therapy'.
The IFTCC rejects the term 'conversion therapy' and instead uses 'change-allowing therapy'. It advocates for the freedom of individuals to seek professional help in leaving unwanted relational and sexual behaviours behind in accordance with their own wishes and life goals, and argues that by permitting only affirmative therapy, individuals are deprived of this freedom.
In his opening remarks on Friday, Dr Mike Davidson, chairman of the International Foundation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC ), which organised the conference, said there was a need to engage with the prevailing discourse in the Church around "celibacy versus transformation".
His comments were in reference to the position of a section of the Church that believes it is possible to identify as Christian and gay, while remaining faithful to the teachings of the Bible on marriage and sexuality by committing to lifelong celibacy.
Dr Davidson suggested a better message would be to tell people living with unwanted same-sex attraction that they "have choices".
"If [we say that] a person has no alternative other than to announce himself or herself as a celibate person - in other words, there's no way out, this is my reality, and this is where I'll be for the rest of my life - I think that's worrying," he said.
"If you say to a 13-year-old boy that he has no escape, I don't think that is doing the just thing."
Dr Davidson said that Christian therapists need to be ready to help people of all faiths and none with compassion and kindness, and create a "safe space" for them.
"They may not yet have found Christ but we dare not close the door on them and surely we must stand for them wherever we are, in whichever part of the world that we are part of," he said, adding that the Church "must be standing up for mankind, not just the Gospel".
Writer and former lesbian Dr Rosaria Butterfield said in a pre-recorded panel discussion that when it comes to this issue, Christians must also engage at the political level and "be willing to stick our necks out".
"The reason Christians are off-step right now culturally and politically is that we were not prepared to defend the Gospel at the level of nature," she said.
"We were ready to talk about all kinds of other things but we were not ready to say that God created a male and female ... at least Protestants weren't."
Speaking later in the evening, Dr Felix Boellmann, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF), said that as parental rights come under increasing threat, Christians in Western nations must take an active stand if they want to see meaningful change and "reclaim parental authority".
"In my experience, sometimes it's enough to be there and to stand up," he said. "If you want to know why things are how they are now, it's precisely because proponents of a very different worldview did the very same thing: they showed up, they were community organisers, they mobilised people. So the question is: why haven't we done that?"
He urged Christians to join school boards and parent-teacher associations in order to be part of the discussions into how schools are run.
"If we want change, we need to be there," he said.
The first day of the conference also heard about the situation in the US where 'conversion therapy' on minors is currently banned in over 20 US states.
Dr Mercy Connors and Dr Shannae Anderson, of the American Association of Christian Counselors, told the conference about their work spearheading a campaign to introduce a conscience clause that would allow Christian therapists to practise in line with their beliefs, akin to the freedom of conscience already enjoyed by medical professionals. But Dr Anderson expressed fears that the situation may get worse before it gets better.
"We could be facing the existential annihilation of our profession," she said.
