Pro-LGBTQ Pastor Praises Andy Stanley Conference as ‘Supportive and Affirming’
A pro-LGBTQ pastor who attended the Unconditional Conference hosted by Andy Stanley’s church is praising the event as “affirming” and says it was a “step in the right direction” toward Christendom changing its position on homosexuality.
Zach W. Lambert, the pastor of Restore Austin (Texas), said in a social media post on Thursday that he went with friends to the conference at Stanley’s North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Ga., and liked what he heard. Restore Austin says on its website it is “fully inclusive, meaning that no matter your age, race, gender, socioeconomic status or sexual orientation, you can participate fully in the life of our church family.”
“Y’all, it was NOT a bait and switch! It was safe, supportive, and affirming,” Lambert wrote. “They explicitly communicated they were not trying to change anyone’s theology, and they didn’t, but every speaker, video, book, and breakout I saw fully affirmed LGBTQ+ folks! I saw pastors advocating for inclusion, parents welcoming their children’s same-sex partners into the family, trans folks sharing their transition stories, and queer people leading at literally every level.”
Lambert also said he approved of Stanley’s follow-up sermon in which the North Point pastor defended the conference.
“The sermon was compiled of 1 minute I completely disagreed with (he said North Point still teaches that ‘biblical marriage’ is between one man and one woman) and 48 minutes of advocating for full inclusion for LGBTQ+ folks in the church,” Lambert said. “Andy said this is an issue where they don’t want to draw lines that exclude, but circles that fully include everyone — married gay folks, trans folks, and everyone else.”
The conference, Lambert said, was a “step in the right direction.”
I was at the now infamous Unconditional Conference last week at Andy Stanley’s North Point Church put on by Embracing The Journey.
I went to be with some dear friends, but more than that, I wanted to see if this conference would be yet another bait and switch. A space that… pic.twitter.com/aQgrR7noq2
— Zach W. Lambert (@ZachWLambert) October 5, 2023
“We still have a long way to go, but I am hopeful,” Lambert said. “I am grateful for this conference and the amazing people who made it happen.”
Meanwhile, Stanley continues to draw criticism and critique for not only the conference but his sermon, in which he said a chaste life “is not sustainable” for some same-sex couples.
Gavin Ortlund, pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai, Calif., and the head of Truth Unites ministry said debates over sexuality and gender are not “agree to disagree” issues.
“We who are Christian leaders and teachers and pastors have absolutely no authority to affirm that which God has declared to be impermissible,” Ortlund said in a YouTube video. “We cannot and must not and dare not give approval to that which God calls us to turn away from and follow Him.”
Love, Ortlund said, must be partnered with truth.
“Amen to the call for compassion and love,” Ortlund said. “… [But] I worry that a lot of people will respond to Stanley’s sermon thinking that maintaining the traditional view of sexuality is unloving. … Christianity is not easy. Christianity is hard. It’s a call to come and die.”
Sam Allberry, associate pastor of Immanuel Nashville and the author of Is God Anti-Gay? also criticized the conference and Stanley’s words.
“To be in a same-sex relationship (whether recognized by the state as a marriage or not) is to disobey Jesus, not to follow him,” Allberry wrote in a Christianity Today column. “Jesus defined marriage as being between a man and a woman (Matt. 19:3–6) and the sole permissible context for sexual behavior (Matt. 15:19–20 and parallel references, where ‘sexual immorality’ in our English editions is a translation of the Greek word porneia, an umbrella term for all sexual activity outside of marriage).”
Allberry also referenced his own personal life. He is single.
“On the whole, it has been deeply joyous,” Allberry wrote. “But I am not immune from temptation, and when any leader suggests to me that chaste obedience to Christ in singleness is not sustainable, he is saying the very same thing to me that the Devil says.”
Related:
Andy Stanley Is Mainstreaming Pro-LGBT Theology in Evangelism, Leader Says: It’s ‘Dangerous’
Andy Stanley: Evangelical Churches Must Change on LGBT Issue: ‘Learn from Us’
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Alessandro Biascioli
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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