Unbelievable? 5 Jun 2010 - Homosexuality and the church

In response to listener requests Justin hosts two shows dealing with Homosexuality and Christian faith. This second show addresses whether the church is homophobic in its attitude towards gay people.  Would a gay person feel welcome at an evangelical church?  Should practising gays be allowed to become church members or receive communion?  Has the church focussed on the gay issue to the exclusion of all other sins? Mike Dark of the organisation "Accepting Evangelicals" is a gay Christian in a same sex relationship.  He says he experienced rejection and homophobia in his church when he "came out" as gay, but has since found a church where same sex relationships are welcomed. John Richardson (who blogs as the Ugley Vicar) is part of the conservative-evangelical Anglican group Reform.  He believes there is a line to be drawn when it comes to the church condoning same sex activity among its members. Martin Hallett is the former director of The True Freedom Trust.  As a Christian of homosexual orientation he chooses to remain celibate, believing the Bible does not condone same sex activity.  But he says the church is often guilty of homophobia too. For Mike Dark see http://www.acceptingevangelicals.org/ For John Richardson see http://ugleyvicar.blogspot.com/ or http://www.reform.org.uk/ For Martin Hallett see http://www.truefreedomtrust.co.uk/ For more Christian theological debates visit http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable or get the MP3 podcast http://ondemand.premier.org.uk/unbelievable/AudioFeed.aspx or via Itunes If you enjoyed this programme you may also enjoy: Unbelievable? 22 Aug 2009 - "Does religion make people unhappy?" - Christian Apologist Tom Price & Atheist Barry Duke Unbelievable? 18 Apr 2009 - Peter Kerridge, Terry Sanderson and Andrea Williams - "I am A Christian" - are Christians being marginalised in society? Join the debate at the Unbelievable? group of the Premier Community http://www.premiercommunity.org.uk/group/unbelievable