It was reported a while back here and in various Australian news services that Grace Communion was actively promoting gay conversion therapy in its chaplaincy program. Apparently a member of the Greens party in Australia did not get her facts straight and falsely accused the GCI.
This is sure to set off our delicate and very bitter persecuted prophet of Arroyo Grande. This is a claim that Bob Thiel has been vomiting out for many years now that he will be persecuted for promoting anti-gay stances. This will be a bitter disappointment to delicate Bob. It will add more fuel to his fire of hate filled grievances with GCI, LCG and other COG's.
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Greens condemned on gay conversion claims
The Greens have been criticised for linking school chaplains with the widely condemned practice of gay conversion, after Victorian education officials dismissed suggestions that one of the state’s providers had been the subject of complaints.
The Victorian Department of Education has confirmed that it has received no complaints about Christian ministry Grace Communion International, which is a National School Chaplaincy Program provider, since the scheme began in 2015.
In its response to questions from Greens education spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young during a Senate estimates hearing in May, the department stressed there were stringent guidelines governing chaplains in Victorian schools, including adherence with anti-discrimination and human rights legislation.
Senator Hanson-Young had singled out Grace Communion during the hearing, saying it was an “organisation that believes in gay conversion therapy”. “I’m quite concerned that some of the organisations providing these chaplain services are a dangerous risk to our kids,” she said.
Ms Hanson-Young later issued a press release saying “questionable religious organisations using their fringe ideals to … push gay conversion therapy methods are being invited into schools under the government’s $247 million school chaplaincy program”.
Federal Education Minster Dan Tehan, whose government recently extended the program to include an anti-bullying focus, said the senator “should get her facts right before she makes unsubstantiated allegations”.
Grace Communion national co-ordinator John McLean said he was relieved he record had been set straight.
“The reality is that we have one chaplain operating in Australia, in Victoria, and that actually grew organically out of an existing relationship between that individual’s congregation and the local school,” he said.
“Certainly no one in our Australian organisation supports any attempts to convert LGBTI people.
“And nothing like that has ever come up in our chaplaincy.”
See story here.
