Why CPAS is wrong on conversion therapy
by Martin Davie:
Following a large amount of criticism on social media for having declared its support for the Evangelical Alliance’s ten affirmations on human sexuality, the trustees of the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) issued a clarificatory statement last Thursday in which they declared, among other things, that ‘CPAS is opposed to conversion therapy, and seeks to uphold the highest standards of safeguarding and pastoral best practice.’[1]
This declaration by the CPAS trustees was an attempt to distance themselves from number eight of the Evangelical Alliance’s affirmations which states:
‘We welcome and support the work of those individuals and organisations who responsibly seek to help Christians who experience same-sex attraction as in conflict with their commitment to live in accordance with biblical teaching. This help will involve counsel and pastoral support to live a chaste life and, as part of this process, some may seek and experience changes in the strength or direction of their same-sex attractions.’ [2]
The implication of the CPAS trustees distancing themselves from this affirmation would seem to be that they do not believe that it is ever right for individuals, or organisations such as the Core Issues Trust, or for that matter churches, to offer ‘conversion therapy’ in the sense of counselling or other forms of pastoral support to ‘help Christians who experience same-sex attraction as in conflict with their commitment to live in accordance with biblical teaching.’
When one stops to think about it, this is a very odd position for the CPAS trustees to hold. They have made it clear that CPAS still adheres to the traditional Christian belief that same-sex sexual relationships are contrary to the will of God as revealed in Scripture. Nevertheless, they appear to be saying that it is wrong to try to help people who are being tempted to act against God’s will in this regard.
Two examples illustrate the problems with this approach.
The first example is a married man who is tempted to cheat on his wife by engaging in an affair with another man.
The second example is a teenage girl who is being encouraged by friends at school to experiment with lesbian sexual activity.
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