I know this has been discussed somewhat before, but I just read this on a website and it blew my mind:
I had to tell ya'll about my experience this past weekend in Long Beach, CA. My partner and I have only been out a little over a year to our friends and family, and we have gotten involved in a GLBT church in Houston, TX. They make an annual trek to Long Beach every year for this conference, and I was amazed and astonished at the people they had for speakers One was Peggy Campolo, who unabashedly supports gay rights and has for years. Her husband, Tony, does not however. They had Don Milam, a Christian publisher, who over the past 10 years or so, has been brought to a deeper understanding of God's grace and how the church has failed in showing it to gays and lesbians. His granddaughter came out about a year ago, and he was put into contact with the pastor( Sandy Turnbull) of Glory Tabernacle Christian Center in Long Beach, where the conference is held, and she helped him come to grips with his granddaughter's lesbianism. Since then, he has written and spoken about his revelation of God's anointing of gay Christians.
Last but certainly not least, Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo-McGuire and their children, Destiny and Israel, provided the praise and worship. I remember Reba Rambo singing with her parents Buck and Dottie Rambo in my teens. For her and her husband to sing in a gay church, and conference was astounding. The most moving and beautiful things at this conference was Saturday night, when Dony McGuire and Reba Rambo invited all the pastors of gay churches that were there, to come up on the stage, remove their shoes and he and his wife, personally washed their feet apologizing for the years he and his wife, and the Christian church at large had thrown stones , maligned God's work in Gay churches, and had excluded and thrown out these pastors and their congregations. He and Reba wept as they washed and kissed the feet of these pastors. He said that over the past year, his church has gone through some tough times because he has invited gay people to come in and welcomed them. Several members have left and he has caught a bunch of flack (sp?) because of his inclusion of GLBT people into his church. Needless to say it was a wonderful experience, and I left with hope that maybe the straight churches are slowly coming around and seeing that God is moving mightily in gay churches.
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