The Gay Christian Network

The Gay Christian Network

The Gay Christian Network is an organization dedicated to equality for all sexual preferences in the Christian religion.  Their mission is captured in one short sentence, "Sharing Christ's light and love for all".  There are five key ways in which they do this: promoting spiritual growth, cultivating safe community, supporting family and friends, educating and encouraging the church, and engaging the wider LGBT community and the world.  The organization shares the same core beliefs as all Christian religions, but emphasizes the inclusion of members of the LGBT community, who some Christian sects discriminate against.  Within the Network, there are two main groups: those who believe in celibacy for homosexuals and those who believe God blesses same-sex relationships.  This divide is called "The Great Debate" as it is a focal separation point within the group of Christian LGBT supporters.  The Gay Christian Network holds a yearly conference and provides educational avenues on the subject of homosexuality and the church.  These avenues include films, books, DVDs, radio stations, and even a musical.  Overall, this website provides great insight into being a homosexual in the Christian community and offers support for those in this situation.

I found this site to have a very positive outlook on homosexuality in the church.  I like its short simple saying because it not only applies to homosexuality, but to anything else that people might discriminate against.  The Network basically believes that all people should be welcome in the church and that God loves us all no matter what our sexual orientation may be.  I believe this is a very helpful website with those in the Christian faith struggling with their sexuality.  The Gay Christian Network has many ways to support these people, including chat rooms and Youtube outreach.  I think this website can be very educational particularly because of its plethora of ways to provide information.  As I mentioned before, the website connects viewers to books, films, forums, a radio station, etc. related to homosexuality and Christianity.  Most interestingly, however, is the musical created by leaders within the Network.  The musical, "Straight to Heaven", was first presented at the 2007 annual conference and portrays serious messages in a lighter way, spoofing well-known musicals.  It has been seen almost 20,000 times on Youtube showing the effectiveness of the Network's employment of different educational methods.  I believe this is a great website for all members of the Christian community to educate themselves and provide support for LGBT believers in Christianity.