True Freedom Trust (TFT) is a "UK-based teaching and pastoral support ministry that holds to the orthodox biblical view of sex, gender and relationships". It takes the view that homosexual activity is
sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
ful, but being
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
is not sinful in and of itself and, therefore, advocates celibacy for those of its gay and lesbian members who do not consider marriage to someone of the opposite sex to be a viable option. While this view is usually strongly rejected by LGBT organizations and individuals, there are some LGBT-identified Christians who emphatically support and practice it.
History
True freedom Trust was founded in 1977 by
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman Canon L. Roy Barker and Martin Hallett, a man who had been "involved in a homosexual lifestyle" for nine years. Canon Barker died in 2004, and the organisation was led by Martin Hallett until his retirement in 2009.
In 2001, when UK ex-gay ministry
Courage UK
Courage UK is a Christian ministry for the gay and lesbian community, based in Guildford, Surrey, England. It was founded as an Evangelical Christian ex-gay organisation that sought to change gay people to straight, but subsequently rejected th ...
announced it was now gay-affirming, TFT Director Martin Hallett told supporters that TFT would not be following suit, and that it retained the belief that homosexual "genital activity" was always wrong. In 2004, the
Holy Trinity Church in
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
pledged to give £5,500 a year to the True Freedom Trust to encourage sexual transformation. In October 2009, Jonathan Berry was appointed as the new Director. Berry says that he was converted out of homosexuality at the age of 24. In January 2018, Stuart Parker was appointed as the new Director.
Description
True Freedom Trust is based in
Wirral,
UK. In 2018, True Freedom Trust had 1800 members and 14 local support groups for men and women and their families in the UK and Ireland.
TFT generally works on a referral basis, where Christians who are "struggling" with their sexuality are put in touch with the main office, assessed, and advised what to do next. Often this involves one-to-one support, or referral to a local "
Barnabas
Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...
" group for ongoing support. The Barnabas groups are informal meetings designed for Christians (in theory, both gay and straight) to offer one another support and encouragement. There are several nationwide.
TFT has made it clear that it does not advocate conversion therapy, but rather Christian discipleship, as the hope for same-sex attracted Christians.
"Can sexual orientation be changed?", TFT Website
/ref> TFT does not generally encourage gay Christians to expect to be healed of their orientation, although it says that change is possible. Therefore, although because of its historical affiliations and its stance against homosexual behavior, it is often considered to be a part of the ex-gay movement
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relat ...
, but this is actually not the case.
See also
* Abiding Truth Ministries
Abiding Truth Ministries (ATM) is a United States 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Scott Lively in Temecula, California in 1997. The ministry has been based in Springfield, Massachusetts, since 2008. Lively, an American author, attorne ...
* Ex-ex-gay
Ex-ex-gay people are those who formerly participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly state they had a non-heterosexual sexual orientation.
Organization ...
* GLAAD
GLAAD (), an acronym of Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals ...
* Homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
* Matthew Shepard Foundation
The Matthew Shepard Foundation is an LGBT nonprofit organization, headquartered in Casper, Wyoming, which was founded in December 1998 by Dennis and Judy Shepard in memory of their son, Matthew. The Foundation runs education, outreach, and adv ...
* Recovering from Religion
Recovering from Religion (RfR) is an international non-profit organization that helps people who have left religion, are in process of leaving, or are dealing with problems arising out of theistic doubt or non-belief. RfR provides support group ...
* The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number wher ...
References
External links
{{Portal, Christianity, sexuality
Official website
LGBT and Christianity
Christian parachurch organizations