Transforming Congregations' mission statement is the driving motivation behind all that we are and do. It puts us solidly in line with other ex-gay* ministries and also with various renewal/reform efforts within The United Methodist Church and the broader Mainline. But it also distinguishes us in many ways as well.

*For lack of a better term, "ex-gay" is used to describe persons who have experienced a shift to some degree in their homosexual attractions and have aligned their behavior with traditional Biblical belief about marriage and human sexuality. It also refers to the kinds of ministries that help facilitate that transformation.

Equipping the local church

Unlike the majority of Exodus member ministries, our national ministry does very little one-on-one work with individuals.  (Although we do offer referral and prayer to anyone that contacts us.)  Several members of our Board of Directors lead such ministries, but our overarching goal is to help local churches achieve the education, understanding and tools to do so themselves.  As long as ex-gay ministry remains a primarily parachurch concern and effort, the Body of Christ as a whole will fail to meet the needs of confused, trapped and hurting people.

to model and minister sanctified sexuality

As Western culture continues to spin out of control sexually, it's critically important that local churches understand the role sexuality plays in Christian sanctification - the journey into purity, wholeness and Christ-likeness that is essential to maturing in faith.  Often, Mainline critics and leadership - even some evangelicals - dismiss the church's decades long battle over human sexuality as trivial, a minor distraction that keeps us from our true mission of making disciples.  But even a cursory reading of Scripture, especially Paul's letters to the early church, indicate otherwise. 

In 1 Thessalonians, he writes that sexual immorality (and his readers would have understood the Greek word to include both same-sex and opposite-sex behaviors) is to be avoided.  In most other respects, the Thessalonians were faithful believers. They were respected throughout the broader Christian community, they had experienced powerful works of the Holy Spirit in their midst, and they had suffered persecution for their beliefs.  Even so, they still apparently failed to live sexually pure lives.  Paul assures them that they can never hope to be fully sanctified unless they willingly submit their sexuality to God's transforming work of grace.  And he warns them that failure to do so will displease God, insult the Holy Spirit, and blur the boundary between Christianity and the rest of the pagan world. 

Poll after poll has shown that when it comes to pornography addiction, extra-marital affairs, teen sex or divorce, those that claim to be Christian demonstrate little difference from the rest of the world.  Unless the church commits to "cleaning up its own act," those trends are likely to continue and perhaps even increase.

through Biblical instruction ...  personal and public witness  ... compassionate outreach

We believe that a Biblical understanding of human sexuality is key to an effective ministry of healing, freedom and change for sexual strugglers.  So we constantly review and recommend printed resources that would be useful for a church library or for group study and discussion, and we track and link to websites that contain helpful ministry information.  In past years, we published an archived educational journal that addressed sexuality issues in church and culture.  And we also have a speaker's bureau of folk who are available to preach or teach during your Sunday services or other church events.

The church is called to contend for the faith "once for all delivered to the saints," and that includes taking a stand for and speaking out about the Biblical truth about sexuality.  We're also called to be "salt" and "light" in a dark and decaying culture. That's what we mean by witness - calling God's people - and culture - back to His revealed will.  So, our Board members and other ministry supporters never hesitate to share their testimonies of freedom and healing.  Since the battle for truth is being fiercely fought in the Mainline, we also network with other renewal/reform groups - mainly in The United Methodist Church, but in other denominations as well.  And though the ministry does not take direct secular political action, we occasionally alert people to pertinent cultural and public policy issues.

But knowing Biblical truth, and even speaking out about it, is not enough.  The church also needs to reach out with compassion to a sexually compromised world.*  Many churches don't even know how to get started, and that's where our "Compassion Without Compromise" workshop can help.   Through lecture, video and small group discussion, church leaders learn the six foundational steps for starting a sexual purity ministry and consider how it might be implemented in their local congregation or community. 

*This goal also distinguishes us from most of the Mainline ECOT (evangelical/conservative/orthodox/traditional) groups. Transforming Congregations and One-by-One (Presbyterian Church USA) are the only Mainline ministries that actually equip churches to do more than talk.

Copyright © 2004 [Transforming Congregations]. All rights reserved.
Revised: July 31, 2008