10 Areas for Churches to work through
Creating a safe place and transitioning a congregation to welcome, accept, and affirm LGBTQ people into their congregations will be quite a journey.
It will take some very gracious non-judgmental straight Christians who are willing to say we don’t have all the answers and have the capacity to live with some ambiguities.
Creating a space for a respectful LGBTQ – Christian dialogue
This presentation, created in 2008, is the foundation of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International’s philosophy and approach.
It has been the vehicle whereby a safe place has been created for churches, religious organisations, and leaders to engage and learn more about LGBT people and their community.
The impacts of faith/sexuality conflict
Faith/sexuality conflict is common amongst LGBT people from faith backgrounds.
Being brought up in or being a part of a church culture that says you are sick, unnatural, or worse, an abomination can have a profound impact on the well-being of LGBT people.
Sometimes the impact of the internal faith/sexuality conflict has been tragic.
Bestselling autobiography – A Life of Unlearning
We are all living a life of unlearning: unlearning things we accepted as truth but created a persona so unlike who we really are.
Eventually cracks appear and beliefs challenged.
On the surface, everything looked perfect. Anthony Venn-Brown was a happily married father-of-two and a popular preacher in Australia’s growing mega-churches such as Hillsong.
Behind the scenes, he fought…
Homosexuality, Christianity and the Church
Founder of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International, Anthony Venn-Brown, was the first openly gay man invited to speak in an Australian evangelical Bible college.
This lecture deconstructs many false assumptions in the Christian Church about LGBTQ people and the community.
Walking Between Worlds Seminar
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people of faith experience two worlds, often intensely opposed to each other.
They experience the usual issues of resolving their sexuality, coming out, finding their place in the community and learning to live authentically in a straight world. Often however, they experience these with greater intensity and have additional issues to deal with. Research has shown that LGBTQ+ people from faith backgrounds are one of the highest risk groups in our community in several key areas including, anxiety, depression and suicidality.
This practical training program provides an in-depth look into the world of LGBTQ+ people of faith by understanding their contexts, identifying their issues and giving you tools that will assist them on their journey.
