Who would have thought? Not me! Fifteen years ago, in 2004, ‘A Life of Unlearning – coming out of the church, one man’s struggle’ hit Australian book and department store shelves. I had no idea that: It would become an Australian bestseller and sell out twice There’d be two more revised and updated editions It [...]
Do you know about the recent Hillsong drama? It involved Chris Pratt, a Hillsong-attending award winning actor, famous for his roles in “The Lego Movie,” “Jurassic World,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Ellen Page, multi-award winning Canadian actress who is a declared atheist and been an out and proud lesbian since 2014. Pastor Brian Houston, [...]
It will take more than policy to ban gay conversion therapy History has taught us that churches have been able to move dramatically on social issues. Eradicating gay conversion therapy will take pressure and a lot of faith. CHARLIE LEWIS FEB 15, 2019 The Andrews’ government announcement that “gay conversion therapy” would be banned was [...]
Banning gay ‘conversion’ isn’t enough February 6, 2019 6:44am Seb Starcevic News Corp Australia Network Over the weekend, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced his government was finally putting an end to gay conversion therapy in Victoria, which he called “bigoted quackery”. “For far too long and for far too many Victorians, an evil practice has been [...]
How would you describe the work of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI) in a sentence? If you had things like education, information, dispelling myths about sexual orientation and gender identity, overcoming ignorance or counteracting false religious beliefs about LGBTI people and our community you’d be right. (If you are not sure of our mission [...]
There was a time when the terms 'ex-gay' or 'former homosexual' were non-existent. In the 1950s and 1960s mental health professionals tried unsuccessfully to find a cause and cure for homosexuality. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the second edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). At [...]
I’ve seen Boy Erased three times now. Actually, once is enough. It is not the kind of movie you want to see over and over again like Beaches, Cabaret, Star Wars, or whatever your all-time favourite movie might be. Boy Erased is a dramatization of Garrard Conley's 2016 memoir of the same title, written for [...]
Gay conversion therapy - does it work? Can you be a Christian and gay? Can a person change from gay to straight? ABC's Hungry Beast looks at gay conversion therapies. Anthony Venn-Brown, former high profile preacher in Australia's mega-churches such as Hillsong and Anthony Menchetti talk about their ex-gay experience. Haydn Sennitt pastoral worker for [...]
Hi Anthony I’ve just finished reading A Life of Unlearning. I actually really enjoyed it in spite of the fact that it disturbed me greatly! You write so well. I would have liked to hear you preach. What a legacy you created in Youth Alive and in your ministry. That fruit remains in spite of [...]