Conference provides safe place
For years Craig Watson tried to ‘‘pray away the gay’’. He thought, with good prayer and counselling, he could be ‘‘saved’’.
Watson grew up in a conservative Christian background and was brought up to believe that relationships between those of the same sex were wrong.
‘‘It was incredibly bad and disrespectful to God, you were a sinner,’’ the Kingsland resident says.
Watson came out only two years ago when he was 32.
‘‘I believed that it was wrong for so long and flew over to London for a job and found a good counsellor and prayer, and thought I could be fixed and be changed.
‘‘I even went to America to a special prayer healing church but it didn’t ‘save me’,’’ he says.
Watson has organised the Awaken Conference, an event for members of the LGBTI community who are Christians.
The event is designed to create a safe, supporting and encouraging place, while providing education for church leaders and pastors wanting to explore these issues.
Peter Lineham is a history professor at Massey University, and will be speaking at the event this weekend.
He knows first hand the struggles of being a gay Christian - he comes from a conservative background and didn’t come out until he was in his late 40s.
Lineham grew up in the Open Brethren church and now lives in Grey Lynn.
‘‘There was really no space for LGBT people and certainly not for those in relationships,’’ he says.
‘‘I came out and they coped with me being gay for three years, but when I went into a relationship they told me to move on as they couldn’t provide pastoral care.’’
Lineham says he felt an enormous loss of community.
While this has not kept him from church he says it doesn’t take much for others to turn away.
‘‘Most gay people who come from strong religious backgrounds are slightly homophobic internally, because they feel a tremendous amount of guilt and are battling with that.’’
Lineham says there is a new generation who have never had a chance to talk about this.
The Awaken Conference will be held this weekend at the All Saints Church in Ponsonby. Visit awakenconference.co.nz for more information.