Alan Chambers says he wants peace in
closing down “ex-gay” ministry Exodus International but he won't
say being gay is okay.
A day after he apologized for and
announced the shuttering of Exodus, Chambers, the group's president,
appeared on HuffPost Live.
Last year, Chambers began leading
Exodus away from supporting therapies aimed at “curing” gay men
and lesbians of their sexual orientation. Chambers, who at one point
starred in ads for the ministry touting “change is possible,”
reversed course, saying such therapies do not work.
Many ministries reacted angrily and
some Christian conservatives called for Chambers to resign.
In a blog post on Wednesday, Chambers
apologized to “ex-gay” survivors, saying that he had “hurt so
many by failing to acknowledge the pain some affiliated with Exodus
International caused, and by failing to share the whole truth about
my own story.” Chambers last year admitted that his own
attractions to other men had not faded.
While Exodus has reached its end,
Chambers said that he's preparing for a new message, an inclusive
message.
“I think that moving forward really
our desire is to reduce fear. Is to create an opportunity for peace.
To really encourage and challenge the church to put its money where
its mouth is. To be an organization or a living breathing body of
people, the embodiment of Christ, to people who are all sorts of
things, whatever it is they are. And for the church to be a place
that has a big open front door for everyone and anyone who wants to
come into it,” Chambers said on the program.
However, when asked if he believes
homosexuality is a sin, he gave an indirect answer, saying that his
beliefs only apply to himself.
Also joining the program was Michael
Bussee, who has criticized the ministry he helped build.
“Make no mistake, [Chambers] still
believes that we are still less than. That our relationships are
counterfeit,” Bussee said. (The video is embedded on this page.
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