By Lynette Suazo
"I chose the name 'Recovering the Promise' because I believe God has given us all a promise, something he whispers to us from the day we're born. Life's challenges bury those Promise," said Kouadio, who is senior pastor of the ministry. "John 3:16 says whosoever believes in him should not perish. There are no qualifiers. It does not say except if you are gay or lesbian. It says whosoever. That is the promise I am trying to recover."
Kouadio is a student at Andover Newton Theological School, currently working on her master's degree in divinity. She met Mitchell, pastor of the ministry at Andover Newton, where he is also working on his master's in divinity. Together they formed Recovering the Promise Ministries. Kouadio said Mitchell told her about "people of faith" in Springfield who had no church to go to, so they decided to plant their church there.
Kouadio grew up in a church where "it wasn't okay to be gay" and where she "had no examples of what it was to be Christian and gay." She admitted to living in the closet in her youth and described the closet as a violent place. Growing up, Kouadio even forced herself to have boyfriends.
Click below to hear more from Kouadio about her faith and GLBT issues:
"I understand what it is like when others don't accept that you're gay. It took me a long time to realize that being gay was okay with God all along," said Kouadio. "Once I realized that, it took me about a year to finally erase those tapes in my mind that said God didn't love me."
Rev. Diane Fisher is the elder of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Boston as well as other MCC churches in other parts of North America, Europe and Africa. Fisher grew up in a Presbyterian church in Canada and once she came out as a lesbian, she said the church leaders "walked her to the door."
Like Kouadio, Fisher also had the same "tapes" playing in her mind telling her that being a lesbian was wrong and that it "wasn't something that good girls do." She continually wondered what God would say and what the church would say. Years later a friend told her about the Metropolitan Community Church and she "felt right at home." The MCC, Fisher explained, is a Christian denomination that was established in 1968 to support the gay community.
Fisher spends a lot of time traveling internationally to help other countries fight for gay rights or for the right to hold church services in their country. Fisher uses the International Lesbian and Gay Association's (ILGA) map of gay rights as a reference on how harsh some laws are for the GLBT community internationally.
"People are still put in prisons and some places, if you're caught trying to have 'gay church' it is punishable by death. These are the places that MCC has chosen to fight," Fisher explained. "Amnesty International has gotten me out of jail many times."
Although the fight for gays to be accepted in the church is progressing here in the United States, Fisher recognizes that the issue can be hostile internationally and she may die for the cause.
Click below to hear more from Fisher about her faith and international GLBT issues:
"This is what Jesus would do, stand with the marginalized and the oppressed. How can we do any less? How could I live with myself if I said 'I fought in Canada and we got our rights, now I don't have to do anything else.' How could I do that and be a person of faith?" said Fisher. "I get to leave these countries but these people live this life every day."
Brandon Lee is a member of MCC Boston, who said he was kicked out of his home when he came out to his Jewish mother. Since joining this intimate congregation this past summer, Lee said he has felt accepted and is able to cope with the issues at home. Although his mother has since let him back in their house, Lee said that it is hard for his mother to deal with the fact that he is gay because of her beliefs.
Mitchell said he understands Lee's situation because he also had a mother who believed it was not okay for him to be a homosexual. Mitchell described his mother as a "theological literalist."
Originally born a woman, Mitchell believed in miracles and prayed that God would magically turn him into a man when he was growing up. By the time he hit puberty, he was upset with God for not making the change. Mitchell began the transformation on his own in 1999 and is now a man.
Click below to hear more from Mitchell about his faith and GLBT issues:
Mitchell said he has a passion for "those who are broken and hurting" and that his ministry does not only extend to the gay community. Mitchell said he felt he had a special ministry to reach out to people who'd been told they were too wrong, too dirty or too broken to be in a church.
After being installed as the official pastors of Recovering the Promise Ministries on Oct. 28, in front of an intimate group of congregants, both Kouadio and Mitchell are excited about building their new church. Both said they believe that their congregation may have people who will need to be healed from being told that God doesn't accept them if they are GLBT.
"I want my church and people in general to know that nothing can keep you from God, not even death," said Kouadio.
Chris Sherwood, the assistant minister at Park Street Church in Boston, agreed with Kouadio that nothing can separate someone from God's love and that anyone can come to God. However, Sherwood's ministry follows a different path. He oversees Park Street's Alive in Christ program, a ministry to help men and women struggling with same-sex attraction. Affiliated with Exodus International, the program's premise is that homosexuality is considered an act of sexual immorality.
"People have to understand that we take the Bible literally and if we want to be consistent with our theology of taking Scripture literally, we can't say that everything that God calls a sin is a sin except for homosexuality," said Sherwood.
Click below to hear more from Sherwood about faith and GLBT issues:
Sherwood explained that Park Street Church is not a fundamentalist church but an evangelical church. He said the difference is that the fundamentalist church demonizes homosexuality and views it as one of the worst sins. The evangelical church, Sherwood said, views homosexuality as equally bad as gossip, lies, greed or any other sin in the Bible.
Alive in Christ uses literature from the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a scientific organization geared toward helping those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. The organization has literature that argues socioeconomic causes and events in one's life may contribute to someone's decision to practice a gay lifestyle.
"I think they'd be hard-pressed to prove that because GLBT people come from all walks of life," said Mitchell of NARTH's literature. "If they feel as though one can go from lesbian to being straight, I will agree with them because I was lesbian and now I am a straight man."
Tem Seward, a member at Recovering the Promise Ministries, also does not agree that homosexuality is caused by socioeconomic factors.
"My mom was straight. My father was straight and he was around. I was not exposed to anything gay, I am just gay." said Seward.
Seward recalled having an attraction to women since she was a toddler and argued that homosexuality is not a choice but that it is a part of a person.
"If God doesn't accept the fact that I am lesbian, then why does God bless me?" asked Seward. "Why when I pray for a job, he blesses me with one three weeks later? Why when I pray for someone to be healed from sickness, he heals them?
"Common sense tells me God doesn't have a problem with it," Seward said.
