This is picked up from another thread where H_A APPEARS to be interested in an actual discussion, so NO TOLERANCE in this thread for derailing, spatting, trolling or goofing off, eh?
VERY serious topic - and even though it's about Church - that's not the main emphasis. It's about the whole sex-reassignment / gender fluidity / gender confusion thing.
So...
Such a case...
I have been working with a fellow pastor - a younger less experienced man - who had something happen in his church, about which nothing was ever taught in seminary.
A man and his wife and their son began visiting his church.
They appeared to be very happy there, and before long, became involved in all aspects of ministry and fellowship.
They were well accepted and "fit in" in so many ways.
The man enjoyed youth ministry, and when time came for summer camp (a few months ago) he volunteered to go as a boy's counselor.
Everybody was good with that, and off they went to camp.
While they were gone, somebody was looking at the man's social media, and was absolutely shocked to discover this man used to be a woman.
The man had a full beard, acted like a man, talked like a man, nobody would ever have guessed in a million years he used to be a woman.
This person who made the discovery sent an email blast to a bunch of other people in the church with links to the social media account of the "transition".
The pastor was absolutely blindsided, and was totally at a loss as to how to proceed.
When they got back from camp, the pastor asked the man to meet with him, and told him the reason.
To his credit, the man was fully cooperative, and appears to have sincerely believed there was nothing wrong with him going to camp as a boy's counselor, since he was, indeed, a man.
As the pastor and this man began to talk - again to the man's credit - he realized the terrible position in which he placed the pastor, and was truly repentant of it, even volunteering to confess his blunder before the church. He admitted that - shortly after the "transition", he began to think he had made a serious mistake, but decided to accept the consequences and continue to live his life as a man. The woman he married knew all about it, and the son is adopted.
This young pastor, to HIS credit, sought counsel, and exercised wisdom, and realized it was his responsibility to minister to this family that they had fully accepted prior to finding out about his transition.
As a church, they are still working through the challenge, and all kinds of new questions arise.
In the process, doing tons of research, we found two very valuable resources, which I'm still reading...
gender.jpg
After several sessions, the man seems to realize he made a terrible mistake, and should have sought better counseling, but there "is no going back".
Reportedly, the Church is working through this, and so far, the man and his family are staying put, but much less engaged then they had been.
VERY serious topic - and even though it's about Church - that's not the main emphasis. It's about the whole sex-reassignment / gender fluidity / gender confusion thing.
So...
Originally posted by Hypatia_Alexandria
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I have been working with a fellow pastor - a younger less experienced man - who had something happen in his church, about which nothing was ever taught in seminary.
A man and his wife and their son began visiting his church.
They appeared to be very happy there, and before long, became involved in all aspects of ministry and fellowship.
They were well accepted and "fit in" in so many ways.
The man enjoyed youth ministry, and when time came for summer camp (a few months ago) he volunteered to go as a boy's counselor.
Everybody was good with that, and off they went to camp.
While they were gone, somebody was looking at the man's social media, and was absolutely shocked to discover this man used to be a woman.
The man had a full beard, acted like a man, talked like a man, nobody would ever have guessed in a million years he used to be a woman.
This person who made the discovery sent an email blast to a bunch of other people in the church with links to the social media account of the "transition".
The pastor was absolutely blindsided, and was totally at a loss as to how to proceed.
When they got back from camp, the pastor asked the man to meet with him, and told him the reason.
To his credit, the man was fully cooperative, and appears to have sincerely believed there was nothing wrong with him going to camp as a boy's counselor, since he was, indeed, a man.
As the pastor and this man began to talk - again to the man's credit - he realized the terrible position in which he placed the pastor, and was truly repentant of it, even volunteering to confess his blunder before the church. He admitted that - shortly after the "transition", he began to think he had made a serious mistake, but decided to accept the consequences and continue to live his life as a man. The woman he married knew all about it, and the son is adopted.
This young pastor, to HIS credit, sought counsel, and exercised wisdom, and realized it was his responsibility to minister to this family that they had fully accepted prior to finding out about his transition.
As a church, they are still working through the challenge, and all kinds of new questions arise.
In the process, doing tons of research, we found two very valuable resources, which I'm still reading...
gender.jpg
After several sessions, the man seems to realize he made a terrible mistake, and should have sought better counseling, but there "is no going back".
Reportedly, the Church is working through this, and so far, the man and his family are staying put, but much less engaged then they had been.
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