It is a moment to point out that many of my friends in the PCA, willing to deal Biblically and compassionately with people struggling with sin have opened the door to those who do not want to struggle with sin, but normalize sin to make the sin no longer a sin.
Some of my friends inside the Presbyterian Church in America have made excuses for pastors like Greg Johnson of Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, MO, and of Revoice, the conference held at his church a few years ago.
Revoice made waves for what seemed to be an attempt to normalize unbiblical sexual identities behind biblical veneers.
Well, let’s fast forward to today. Revoice is still going, and Johnson’s church might leave the PCA. And what of Revoice’s antics?
They’ve gone exactly where I predicted they would go.
Speakers have always emphasized homosexuality as an identity, not just a behavior. But this year, such assertions from the dais seemed more insistent, with speakers assiduously using civil-rights language to present radical change as settled truth. That identity rhetoric extended to transgender ideology. Speakers frequently referred to “sexual and gender minorities” and used preferred pronouns, along with terms such as women “assigned female at birth.” The group’s reach and influence are growing, but leaders now emphasize parachurch activities. Speakers frequently referenced ongoing rejection within the church and encouraged attendees to form their own spiritual communities in local Revoice chapters.
Oh wait, there’s more:
During the conference’s two-hour lunch breaks, Revoice offered “affinity groups,” broken into various categories: gender minorities, family/loved ones of LGBTQ+, bisexuals/pansexuals, asexuals/aromantics, women “assigned female at birth,” mixed-orientation heterosexual marriages where one spouse remains same-sex attracted, and celibate partnerships where those who are same-sex attracted but celibate live together. In Side B circles, those are called “spiritual friendships.” Other affinity groups were categorized by race: BIPOC for black or indigenous people of color and AAPI for Asian American or Pacific Islanders.
