‘He taught me to hate myself’: the pastoral care of gay Christians in Anglican churches

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the pastoral approach of church leaders towards gay and lesbian Christians in two contrasting Anglican church settings: non-affirming and affirming of gay identity. This is timely, given the vexed history surrounding the ‘gay issue’ within the Church of England and the current deliberations regarding ‘gay blessings’. The results uncovered a troubling ignorance in non-affirming settings of the well-researched vulnerability of gay Christians related to their sexual identity. Interviews with church leaders in affirming settings revealed a considerable burden of suffering in gay Christians seeking sanctuary in their churches because of traumatic experiences in non-affirming churches.

KEYWORDS:

• Gay Christians
• pastoral care
• non-affirming and affirming
• internalised homophobia
• LGBTQ

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions from Professor Nicola Slee of The Queens Foundation, Birmingham and the six research respondents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Denis Walsh

Dr Denis Walsh is a Lay Reader in the Church of England attached to a Benefice in the East Midlands.