Exodus To Shut Down

Exodus International, the largest "ex-gay" ministry in the world, is closing down.

Exodus International, the oldest and largest Christian ministry dealing with faith and homosexuality announced tonight that it’s closing its doors after three-plus decades of ministry. The Board of Directors reached a decision after a year of dialogue and prayer about the organization’s place in a changing culture.

“We’re not negating the ways God used Exodus to positively affect thousands of people, but a new generation of Christians is looking for change – and they want to be heard,” Tony Moore, Board member of Exodus. The message came less than a day after Exodus released a statement apologizing . . . to the gay community for years of undue judgment by the organization and the Christian Church as a whole.

“Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we’ve ceased to be a living, breathing organism,” said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus. “For quite some time we’ve been imprisoned in a worldview that’s neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical.”

Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin, who attended this year's Exodus conference, live-blogged the session in which Chambers made the announcement.

First, I want to express my admiration for the courage Chambers has displayed in not only realizing he's wrong, but admitting it publicly, and even more, his part in disbanding the organization that did so much damage. I do take exception to Tony Moore's statement about "the ways God used Exodus to positively affect thousands of people." I haven't seen any positive effects, unless you consider teaching people to consider themselves damaged and inferior to be positive. I don't. If it's a matter of bringing your basic make-up into conformity with your religious beliefs, I have one reaction to that: religion is a choice; sexual orientation is not.

This all goes back to one of the things that I find most objectionable about Christianity as it has developed over the course of the centuries. It stems from the old Judaic idea of submission to God's will (something you find as well in Islam). Submission is not really part of my repertoire. I mean, one can recognize the realities of the universe and realize that there are things you can't do anything about -- like tornadoes and earthquakes. But the idea that someone else should be making my choices is one I find thoroughly repellent. (There's a line in, of all things, Gensomaden Saiyuki, that reflects this, when Sanjo says words to the effect that "Who your enemies are is not something someone else should be deciding for you.") And yet, that is the basis of Christianity -- someone else is making your decisions.

At any rate, before this turns into a ramble, I just want to note that the remains of Exodus apparently intends to move the office furniture to new digs and set up under a new name, with, one hopes, a new mission. Via Chris Geidner:

“Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we’ve ceased to be a living, breathing organism,” said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus. “For quite some time we’ve been imprisoned in a worldview that’s neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical.” …

For these reasons, the Board of Directors unanimously voted to close Exodus International and begin a separate ministry. “This is a new season of ministry, to a new generation,” said Chambers. “Our goals are to reduce fear (reducefear.org), and come alongside churches to become safe, welcoming, and mutually transforming communities.”

I'm reserving judgment until I see what shape this new ministry takes. If it's still in the camp of evangelical Christianity, it's going to take some serious remodeling to make me believe it.

I may come back to this as I run across more.

Update: Here's an OpEd by an ex-gay survivor, one of those who confronted Alan Chambers on Lisa Ling's segment on "Our America" on "Gays and God," which airs tonight.