Church of England to Launch New LGBT Congregation

sermonindex Jun 21, 2016

The Church of England will be launching a new congregation especially for the LGBT community this summer.

According to ChristianToday.com, the new congregation is called True North and seeks to bring LGBT people into community with the Body of Christ.

True North will meet in St. Matthew’s Walsall where most of the leadership oppose gay marriage. True North thus aims to provide "worship, mutual support and encouragement for Christians in the LGBTI community.”

Rev. Jim Trood, vicar of St. Matthew’s Walsall opposes same-sex marriage, but nevertheless, welcomes the new congregation: "While I and many of the leadership of St Matthews hold a traditional view on human sexuality, LGBT Christians are first and foremost children of God and made in his image," he said.

Another church leader, Rt. Rev. Clive Gregory, the Bishop of Wolverhampton, stated, "I understand why LGBTI Christians feel the need for a place to meet and worship where they can feel secure and supported in their God-given sexual identity. They will be very much part of our Diocese and I will look forward to worshipping with them in due course."

D

docs Jun 22, 2016

I know I've said it before but wake me up I'm dreaming maybe. It still seems IMPOSSIBLE but here it is in living reality! Surely it can't be so but it is so. Eventually I think, these churches and these types of movements will be among those that persecute the true church of the Spirit.

W

watchnpray Jun 22, 2016

You bet, David. No enemy like the one "within", eh?

sermonindex Jun 22, 2016

David writes..........

"Eventually I think, these churches and these types of movements will be among those that persecute the true church of the Spirit." Yes indeed brother and in the not so distant future. We will be branded nationally and internationally as haters and bigots and the narrow minded fundamentalists. We will eventually become public enemy number one and seen as a roadblock to peace and harmony..........bro Frank

sermonindex Jun 22, 2016

Yep, the proverbial noose is tightening, meaning religious freedom is being eroded. Ironically, in the name of other's religious beliefs.

D

docs Jun 22, 2016

This emerging true church will finally grow sick of the hype and the banal predictability of a merely phraseological Christianity. It will seek the deeper reality of faith and relationship, counting the cost and increasingly taking on the visage of pilgrim, stranger and sojourner in the earth. Those that remain in conventional church situations, either impervious to the need or unwilling to pay the price, will settle under a deception of religious unreality, condemning as heretics and agitators those who cannot abide the same. Centrifugal forces will polarize Christendom ultimately toward two camps: the persecuted or persecutors - reminiscent of the opposition of the Reformation churches to the Anabaptists of the 16th century! Finally, impeding unities will drive the religio-political kind to fury against that minority of the Spirit which will not subscribe to their ecumenical designs. So once again, and finally, a man will find his enemies to be those of his own household; yet, one’s love for his enemies in response to opposition and persecution will be the distinguishing mark of this consummating, remnant-martyr church. Such a response will be the possibility of those whose conscious, determined preparation and sanctification begins now.

The light of His countenance in such a separated people will be the very factor that brings upon them, as it did Stephen, the retribution and assault of those who hate the light and prefer darkness ”“ both from without but more so from within the church. Radical apostolicity or apostasy will prove the only options during this polarization. Neutrality or middle-of-the-road alternatives will be waste and void. We will be, finally and at last, compelled to be true believers, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, in an age when the only other option is to wear the mark of the Beast.

(From "Sober Reflections for the End Times" - Art Katz)

Excerpt: "yet, one’s love for his enemies in response to opposition and persecution will be the distinguishing mark of this consummating, remnant-martyr church. Such a response will be the possibility of those whose conscious, determined preparation and sanctification begins now."

Docs: I'm likely the chieftest of those who may want to but who not yet grasp the full implications of this truly prophetic statement. I'm thinking of the lyrics of that song that went, "Jesus reduced me to love." O how I wish.