Confession on Behalf of the Church

Justice and Respect Letters
Confession on Behalf of the Church
by Pastor Ed Flook

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... faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2.15

We repent and are heartily sorry... A conservative Christian pastor speaks profoundly of repentance on behalf of making the Church a place where same-gender attracted persons can more freely seek relationship with Christ.

- spoken at the 1995 Exodus Conference by Ed Flook, Vineyard Christian Fellowship, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and since shared in many places....

I confess on behalf of church leaders that:

1. We have not been authentic. We have not had much to offer you to help you find freedom in Christ. We have practiced and, by example, taught an anemic variety of Christianity - holding to a forrn of godliness but denying the power thereof. We have failed to make disciples.
2. We have been so fearful of exposure of our own sins that we have not been honest. We have only allowed people to see a sanitized version of our lives. We have given a false picture of what Christians look like, and have taken hope away from those who are in process.
3. We have been so driven by our need to appear successful that we have focused on activities which will produce quick results. We have avoided engagement with messy people who are corning out of patterns wich will take a lifetime to heal.
4. We have been so insecure that we have been afraid to associate with a group that has been largely cast out by society.
5. We have in some cases actually been the perpetrators of the abuse which became the root of your sexual patterns.

I confess on behalf of the Church that:

1. ln many cases we've been more interested in being right than in being loving, and have ended up being neither right nor loving.
2. We have in many cases lived by an unspoken agreement that "I won't expose you if you don't expose me. We've carefully crafted the appearance of being okay when we're not okay, and of being righteous when we're not righteous.
3. We've settled for a weak imitation of real Christianity, and have held to a form of godliness but denied the power thereof. For this reason we've often had little to offer to those who needed to find God's power to break free from sin.
4. We've given the impression by our silence or by our attitude that sexual sins are worse than other sins, and that homosexuality is the worst of all. We've fed the very dynamics of shame which have been keeping people captive.
5. We have largely failed to seek out the homosexual community with the Gospel, despite the fact that the Father is always seeking them in love.
6. We have failed to provide a place for those coming out of homosexuality, either in our churches or in our hearts. When you've needed a healed, whole, loving family to return to in the Lord, we have not been there for you. In many cases, there has seemed like there is no place for you to go.
Please forgive us and please come home to the church. You're part of us, it's your birthright, and we need you.

As delivered at the 1995 (20th annual) Exodus Conference and printed in the Exodus Update.

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Created on 10-5-1999. Last updated 11-24-1999.