New Direction to build national network
OAKVILLE, ON—A ministry that offers Christian support to men and women choosing to leave homosexuality wants to expand its work across Canada, says Wendy Gritter, executive director of New Direction Ministries.
Speaking to an invitation-only crowd of close to 250 at an October 27 evening fundraiser, Gritter says in the last year and a half, New Direction has taken "two fairly independent, regional offices and formed one strong national board."
"In the next two years, we want to identify regional leaders in British Columbia and Alberta," she adds. To do so, they'll need to raise more than $115,000 over and above their 2006 budget.
Called, "A Relevant Engagement," the dinner event was held at an Oakville, Ontario banquet hall and featured a catered meal served on black and white linen, jazz music, performance art by visual artist Tina Newlove, drama by Jason Hildebrand and a silent art auction.
Gritter says New Direction, which also works to equip the church to minister effectively and compassionately, seeks to demonstrate relevant, Christ-centred engagement on the homosexuality issues. Plans include the development of uniquely Canadian resources for pastors looking to minister to people who experience same-gender attraction.
Bruxy Cavey, guest speaker and teaching pastor at The Meeting House, told those assembled that homosexuality is, "the issue that the non-church world is looking at to determine whether or not to listen to anything else [the Church has] to say."
New Direction is an organization that can help to teach the Church something "we're not very good at," Cavey explained. "We need to learn the difference between approval and acceptance" because when those two things are confused, "it will translate into withholding acceptance to show disapproval."
Many Christian organizations expend a lot of energy to convey disapproval to the homosexual community, he added.
David, who requested his last name be withheld, told ChristianWeek that through New Direction he has found support and acceptance. "It's like arms that lift you up," he says. The 51-year-old says he experiences same-gender attraction and has been meeting with New Direction for six months after finding them through their website.
"They've been a lifesaver," he says. "Just to know there was someone out there that cared and wasn't shying away from the issue."
He describes profound loneliness throughout his life. Raised in a Christian home, he never felt he could turn to his family or church for help with his struggles because homosexuality is "the supersin of the Christian world."
Pieter Niemeyer, pastor of Rouge Valley Mennonite Church in Markham, Ontario, says he came to the fundraiser because "it's an issue the Church needs to address and have conversation around."
While his church includes people who hold views on every side of the issue, he believes "part of my pastoral goal is to hold one another in respect and love and to seek the will of God."
Calling the event, "our coming-out party," in spite of the fact that the ministry's been around for 21 years, Gritter says "God is calling us to more than ministering to [those who experience same-gender attraction]. He's calling us to receive them."
Gritter describes the elegant evening as "a time to showcase how God is taking us to a new level of growth and expansion to make an impact in the nation. It's really a time to gather the troops and say, 'we need you to come on board with us.'"
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