Affirming
LGBTQIA+
people at
Cityside

Here’s what we mean by this!

The following statements are drawn from our 2014 submission to the Baptist Union in support of Same Sex Marriage. These statements are a reaffirmation of our stance affirming marriage equality, as well as the openness for those in the LGBTQIA+¹ people to fully participate in the life of our church.

First and foremost, we acknowledge the pain, distress, hurt and anguish that the LGBTQIA+ people has faced from Christians and the Church. From this we, as a Baptist church community, acknowledge that there can be a sense of distrust from members of the LGBTQIA+ people towards institutional church. Among a small minority of Baptist Churches we stand in opposition to the destructive and immoral behaviour toward LGBTQIA+ people, both historic and enduring.

We are an affirming and inclusive church which means that LGBTQIA+ people have the right to full participation in our church through attendance, membership, service participation and leading, volunteering in various ministries, paid leadership, Council, Community Leaders and any other areas of involvement in the church community. 

1. As a church community we affirm and accept LGBTQIA+ people as created by God, made in the image of God, and welcomed and loved by God.

2. We see the presence of LGBTQIA+ people within human society as a naturally occurring feature of human diversity and therefore part of God's good creation, not a sign of sin or brokenness. We recognise that all human sexual relationships have the potential for unhealthy expression and sin, but we do not consider LGBTQIA+ love to be inherently disordered, ‘unnatural’ or sinful, and we do not believe that the Bible or Christian theology requires us to do so.

3. We believe that LGBTQIA+ Christians are entitled to give and receive sexual love within faithful partnerships, in the same way as heterosexual Christians are. We affirm that we wish to be able to celebrate these faithful partnerships in the form of marriage. Further, we feel that to deny a Christian ceremony of public witness, blessing and exchange of vows to long standing unions effectively undermines our own stated values of faithfulness, accountability, and commitment in human relationships.

4. We believe that most LGBTQIA+ people experience their gender identity and sexual attraction as innate and unchosen in the same way as cis-typical heterosexual people do. We do not believe that LGBTQIA+ people can or should be asked to change their diverse sexuality. Consequently, we support the legal ban on conversion therapy.

5. We fully understand that some LGBTQIA+ Christians are persuaded in their own conscience that they must stay celibate, in obedience to how they understand the Scriptures. We affirm that choice, if made freely, and would naturally support those people to fulfil their conviction. However, we are also persuaded that nobody can impose lifelong celibacy on someone else if that is not their sense of call and conviction, and to do so is both unhealthy and unethical.

6. We grieve for the pain that the wider Church has caused over the years to LGBTQIA+ people, and for the lack of understanding and compassion that they have suffered. We acknowledge and grieve with the LGBTQIA+ people at the higher statistics and rates of suicidal ideation and suicide within the community. We also acknowledge that some within the community have noted that the negative or hurtful interactions with the wider Church contributed towards the suicidal ideation or suicide. We are also concerned to make clear that even where individuals and churches attempt to scale back their active condemnation of LGBTQIA+ people, the commitment to seeing their relationships as forbidden and unable to be blessed by God, is hurtful and alienating. 

   We question the ability of churches to be safe and welcoming environments for LGBTQIA+ people when they express opposition to LGBTQIA+ people finding love and fulfilment in their committed human relationships. Cityside sits in a challenging and journey position alongside those churches if they wish to explore becoming a genuinely welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ people.

7. We acknowledge that within Aotearoa, Māori have their own understanding of queerness known as Takatāpui which is included in the LGBTQIA+. We also acknowledge that many of the streams of understanding of LGBTQIA+ in Aotearoa is from a Pākehā perspective and we as a community are committed to understanding the LGBTQIA+ people outside of this lens.

8. We also acknowledge that for many LGBTQIA+ people there is a need for privacy to ensure the safety of the LGBTQIA+ person. We endeavour to protect and proactively guard against outing or disclosing without permission.