July 26, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 26, 2004 (Los Angeles) - British ex-gay ministry founder will speak about no longer trying to change gays on July 29, 7:00-9:00 p.m., in Orange, California.

COURAGE UK, a thriving British Christian ministry tried for years to assist gay and lesbian Christians "change" to the heterosexual lifestyle. COURAGE UK has completed a virtual "about face" and now affirms gays and lesbians in both faith as well as their homosexual orientation (http://www.courage.org.uk/).

Jeremy Marks, COURAGE UK's founder and leader since 1988, will be in Orange, California, to express how this radical change in thought and the direction of the ministry occurred. Marks' story is especially compelling at a time when our nation must look at gay marriage and is also weighing a federal constitutional amendment to deny gay and lesbian citizens of their human rights.

Marks will speak at the annual conference of Evangelicals Concerned in Orange, CA, starting at 7:00 p.m. on July 29. The event is sponsored by Evangelicals Concerned (EC). EC is an organization which assists GLBT Christians from evangelical and conservative backgrounds to support their faith and reconcile their sexuality (www.ecwr.org).

Marks founded COURAGE UK to offer support to Christians who experience tension between their homosexual orientation and their conservative and evangelical backgrounds. COURAGE UK ran discipleship programs to assist participants to leave their homosexuality behind in accordance with their background. Eventually, Marks' experience challenged him to look further into the issue and reevaluate his ministry. Marks states, "we learned this ministry policy was ruinous to the lives of people we were there to help and it gradually became apparent how superficial the evangelical perspective on this issue can be."

Jeremy Marks will participate in EC's 25th annual conference with 200 expected attendees from the U.S. and Canada at Chapman University, July 29 to August 1. Marks will be a featured speaker at the conference.

Evangelicals Concerned Western Region is a non-denominational evangelical resource providing a community of fellowship that is a safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Christians to reconcile and integrate their faith and sexuality, and to grow toward Christian maturity. Featured speakers have included Lewis B. Smedes (leading theological voice on forgiveness), Peggy Campolo, Ralph Blair (founder of EC), Roy Clements (British Evangelical theologian), Mel White (founder of Soulforce) and many others.

Organizations or churches with Evangelical roots have traditionally been the most condemning, exclusionary and antagonistic to Christians who also identify as GLBT. This bias has produced untold levels of damage to many children of God and has caused many to abandon their faith traditions or commit suicide. Evangelical organizations are responsible for virtually every attempt to convert gay people. EC has challenged the conversion therapy notion for 25 years, standing in the gap and providing healing and safety to thousands of Christians.

This is precisely why conservative leaders such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell would like to pretend that EC and gay Christians do not exist.

EC stands firm in the knowledge that Christians can be other that straight and also drink from the cup of God's enduring grace. EC exposes the routine misconceptions of scripture used to condemn and deny God's grace and love to those who seek a profession of faith. EC is committed to providing a place of ongoing reconciliation to those struggling to integrate their relationship to God with what is also their God-given sexual orientation.

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EC exposes the routine misconceptions of scripture used to condemn and deny God's grace and love to those who seek a profession of faith. EC is committed to providing a place of ongoing reconciliation to those struggling to integrate their relationship to God with what is also their God-given sexual orientation.

Evangelicals Concerned Western Region (ECWR) is a nationwide ministry, which encourages and affirms lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians in their faith.  We organize small groups, bible studies, social activities and other events in many North American cities, and we organize national and regional conferences every year.