A FEW THOUGHTS

Growing up, I was convinced that I *could not* be good at sports and
sheepishly backed away from any activity that required athletic skill. I
remember one spring afternoon my teacher insisted that I join the rest
of the class in our regular game of softball. I was always picked last
to play on a team, but my teacher made sure I was in the batting
rotation. When I reluctantly stepped to the plate and swung at the ball,
I missed and presumed that the next two pitches would go the same way as
they always had. To my shock and the surprise of everyone else, I swung,
hit the ball, and made a home run! From that day on, I was convinced
that change is indeed possible. Even now as an adult, I believe that our
scriptures encourage us to change and grow to be more like Jesus –
loving, generous, truthful, and merciful.

But some things about us do not change.

But there are some things about us that God doesn’t want to change –
because God made us who we are, in our “innermost being,” as the
Psalmist says. And God made us for good, all created in God’s image and
likeness. It is from this place that we do the difficult and nuanced
work of figuring out what in us must change because it’s not like God
and what is absolutely a reflection of the divine working within us.

This process is often messy, particularly when it comes to the topic of
human sexuality.

There are some who believe that who we are in our innermost being, how
we identify, or who we’re attracted to, is something that can be changed
because of a prayer we pray or a therapy program we participate in.

There are some who believe we are supposed to “pray the gay away.”

However, there simply isn’t strong evidence that God frequently or
regularly changes one\’s sexual orientation or gender identity. What we
do have, backed by countless stories, professional opinions of both
clergy and clinicians, and by research data, is a strong understanding
that efforts to change one\’s sexual orientation or gender identity do,
in fact, have harmful outcomes on the individuals who pursue these
efforts.

In recent months, a new effort to tell an old myth \– that sexual
orientation and gender identity change is possible \– has surfaced. And
while the people involved often are simply sharing from their own
understanding and likely have the best of intentions, the movement that
they have created is indeed a dangerous one. This is so consistently
true that several states, including my own, Illinois, have moved to
outlaw conversion therapy and more states are in the process of passing
similar laws as well. The reasons for this are numerous but the glaring
omission of many “change is possible” efforts is that they don’t talk
about the reality that the vast majority (75-99% by some estimates)
never experience the promised change. What institution, business, or
individual would you willingly give your money and time to with such a
dismal success rate and misleading proposition?

Like all Christians, the lives of LGBTQ+ people do indeed include
stories of transformative change – changes that come from the work of
the Holy Spirit in us. We make personal sacrifices and conform our lives
in ways that are often overlooked by the church at large. At Q Christian
Fellowship, we believe that there is a unique value that exists in the
lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ Christians and that the body of Christ
is incomplete without us. We have perspectives about relating to God,
friendship, commitment, and love that can enhance the faith journeys of
all Christians of every orientation \– married, single, or celibate.

To cut off this part of the body is a loss to all of us.

The stories in this collection from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
Queer, and other Christians, along with their allies, include powerful
testimonies of growth and change that God through the Holy Spirit has
been authoring in their lives. *Unchanged* also celebrates the God who
loves each of them as they are, the amazing and wonderful creations of
One who makes all things good.

It also celebrates the God who loves each of them as they are,
*Unchanged,* the amazing and wonderful creations of the One who makes
all things good.

\-\–(old edits and text disregard below)\-\–

James 1:17 (CEB) reminds us in this way “Every good gift, every perfect
gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the
creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at
all.” God’s character is the same today and forever and in that
character is Love. God loves us all and we’re all created in God’s image
and likeness. It is from this place that we do the difficult and nuanced
work of figuring out what in us must change because it’s not like God
and what is absolutely a reflection of the divine working within us.
This process is often messy, particularly when it comes to the topic of
human sexuality. We’re confident that God created us as relational
beings with sexual and romantic desires. We have a diversity of thoughts
about how those desires should be expressed and what expressions are
appropriate. Human sexuality, however, is not something that changes
because of a prayer we prayed or a therapy program we participated in.
While we as Christians strive for our sexual desires and expressions to
be completely subject to God’s authority, there isn’t strong supporting
evidence that God frequently or regularly changes one\’s sexual
orientation or gender identity. What we do have backed by countless
stories, professional opinions of both clergy and clinicians, and by
research data is a strong understanding that efforts to change one\’s
sexual orientation or gender identity do, in fact, have harmful outcomes
on the individuals who pursue these efforts.

In recent months, a new effort to tell an old myth \– that sexual
orientation and gender identity change is possible \– has surfaced. And
while the people involved often are simply sharing from their own
understanding and likely have the best of intentions, the movement that
they have created is indeed a dangerous one. This is so consistently
true that several states, including my own, Illinois, have moved to
outlaw conversion therapy and more states are in the process of passing
similar laws as well. The reasons for this are numerous but the glaring
omission of many “change is possible” efforts is that they don’t talk
about the reality that the vast majority (75-99% by some estimates)
never experience the promised change. What institution, business, or
individual would you willingly give your money and time to with such a
dismal success rate and misleading proposition?

Like all Christians, the lives of LGBTQ+ people do indeed include the
transformative changes that come from the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
We make personal sacrifices and conform our lives in ways that are often
overlooked by the church at large. At Q Christian Fellowship, we believe
that there is a unique value that exists in the lives and experiences of
LGBTQ+ Christians and that the body of Christ is incomplete without us.
We have perspectives about relating to God, friendship, commitment, and
love that enhance the faith journeys of all Christians of every
orientation \– married, single, or celibate. As such, to cut off this
part of the body is a loss to all of us.\
\
In 2nd Corinthians 16-21, the scripture talks about how we indeed are
changed, not by outward human standards like conversion therapy or
“praying the gay away”, but instead by the work of Christ and that God
does this work on our behalf. The scripture goes on to say that we are
ambassadors who represent Christ and reconciliation. I hope you’ll
thoughtfully consider and even cherish these stories of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and other Christians, along with their
allies, as we share what it means to be *Unchanged.*

\*\*\*

Things are changing every moment of every day and for many of us, it
feels like the world is spinning faster by the minute. We have 24-hour
news cycles, new technology to buy and keep up with, and there always
seems to be another change to adjust to in our work and family lives.
Even in history, we see over and over again just how frequently
everything changes. Our churches have changed too. Maybe you’ve
experienced a change in church leadership or changed what Bible
translation you read or even changed denominations altogether. There’s
also the change that God does in each of our hearts, where little by
little we become more like Jesus, in our thoughts and our actions.
There’s no denying that change is happening and will continue to happen
everywhere, but does anything stay the same?

2 Corinthians 5 (Common English Bible)

**16** So then, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human
standards. Even though we used to know Christ by human standards, that
isn’t how we know him now. **17** So then, if anyone is in Christ, that
person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and
look, new things have arrived!

**18** All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to
himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
**19** In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through
Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us
with this message of reconciliation.

**20** So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating
with you through us. We beg you as Christ’s representatives, “Be
reconciled to God!” **21** God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be
sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness
of God.