Pastor Douglas S. Busch: "Why I affirm and support same-sex marriage"

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Douglas S. Bursch
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Sep 25, 2022
@fairlyspiritual
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Recently I made it clear I support & affirm loving same-sex marriage & relationships. As a result my license & ordination are being revoked & today we shut down our church after 24 years. God is good & we are thankful for your prayers & support as we enter this new season. 1/2

Douglas S. Bursch
@fairlyspiritual
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Here is the theological paper I presented to let people know my heart. Not trying to convince anyone, just trying to be me. Much love to each of you. 2/2

fairlyspiritual.org
Why I affirm and support same-sex marriage
By Pastor Douglas S. Bursch, D.Min I’ve decided it would be good for me to write down why I support same-sex marriage. I am not attempting to convince anyone to change their opinions or persp…
6:55 PM · Sep 25, 2022

https://www.fairlyspiritual.org/2022/08/28/why-i-affirm-and-support-same-sex-marriage/


I’ve decided it would be good for me to write down why I support same-sex marriage. I am not attempting to convince anyone to change their opinions or perspectives. Instead, I am trying to communicate why my opinions and ideas concerning same-sex relationships have changed. I hope this will help people better understand my journey and my current ministry trajectory.

Early on in my adult Christian life, I viewed same-sex attraction as contrary to the teachings of the Bible. I didn’t believe someone wasn’t a Christian or couldn’t be a Christian if they had same-sex attraction; I just believed the Bible didn’t condone same-sex sexual or romantic relationships. If asked about my opinion, I would usually say something such as “I don’t believe Scripture condones same-sex relationships. However, I know other Christians disagree with me and I am open to growing in my understanding.” On a practical level, I never preached against same-sex marriage, and I tried to welcome relationships with Christians within the LGTBQ+ community. I am not trying to defend my behavior or stance. I knew at the time that my position was still a rejection of the sincerely held witness and existence of my friends within the LGTBQ+ community. I just need people to know that I truly felt conflicted. On one hand, I loved and respected the faith of my friends who were in same-sex relationships, but on the other hand I thought Scripture did not condone those relationships. I know I could have handled this better, but it is my past and it is how I operated.

In recent years, I’ve grown more and more comfortable with the idea that I might be wrong with my understanding of what Scripture says about human sexuality. As a result, I tried to be more inclusive in my associations and interactions. Even so, I still felt that acceptance of same-sex marriage would put me at odds with Scripture. This tension kept me from theologically and publicly affirming same-sex relationships, even though in my heart I felt affirmation and acceptance of the people I knew in same-sex relationships.

Recently, I’ve realized it is right for me to affirm same-sex relationships and marriages theologically, publicly, and in practice. I no longer believe Scripture speaks against loving, same-sex relationships. I believe in the past I misunderstood the focus of Scripture and misapplied what Scripture teaches concerning same-sex sexual relations. To help you understand my journey, I’d like to share how I now understand certain scriptures dealing with same-sex sexual activity. I am not an expert in queer theology and my thoughts are in not exhaustive or complete. I am still learning and growing. I would encourage each of you to learn and to grow as well. Regardless, our convictions should be open to rigorous examination, with a humble understanding that we are all in process.

*snip*

I'm not religious. In fact, I'm very anti-organized religion. However, I found this Pastor's reasoning about scripture used to vilify same-sex relationships very interesting.