A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
—John 13: 34-35

The purpose of this document is to provide clarity, biblical guidance and pastoral vision to Knox Church regarding human sexuality for all people. It outlines our church’s position regarding same-sex relationships, and offers direction for how our church can worship and serve with people across a range of sexual orientations and gender identities. It also offers a living apology from Knox to specific members of our community who have been hurt, harmed, or marginalized. This paper closes with a discussion of how our church can continue to grow as a beloved community despite—and even because—of our differing personal beliefs, with Jesus as our centre.

LGBTQ2I+: An Integral Part of the Knox Community

LGBTQ2I+ people are a vital part of Knox’s community as members, adherents, newcomers and leaders, as well as being among our family members, friends, peers, colleagues and neighbours. In speaking of human sexuality and intimate relationships, we recognize we are discussing the lives of beloved human beings, people who bear the image of God and are the objects of God’s favour and affection. Regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, all people must be respected, honoured, and cared for. We invite anyone interested in our church community to get to know us, regardless of their beliefs on any single matter. We define ourselves through our understanding of, and relationship to, Jesus, and we invite others to do the same.

Clearly Defining Service and Leadership in the Knox Community

With the desire to embody an open and welcoming spirit, we have been tasked with more clearly and concisely defining the roles of service and authority in our community, in keeping with our scriptural understanding. Leadership of this community is a commitment to service, something which carries honour and responsibility, inviting people to make sacrifices in order to reveal God’s Kingdom (1 Timothy 5:17). The call of leadership should not be taken lightly, especially for key roles charged with high levels of authority, guidance and care for a community and a spiritual “flock” (Acts 20:28; James 5:14). Scriptures point to the importance of trusted and respected role models, and “overseers” who show integrity, humility, self-control, hospitality, self-giving, and obedience (1 Peter 5:1-5; 1 Timothy 3:1-13). While grace should be extended to all, church leaders—namely Elders, ordained ministers and designated pastors—are to be held to a higher account than regular congregants, including in their relationships and sexual ethics (James 3:1; 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6; Hebrews 13:17).

At Knox, this means that such designated positions of leadership are reserved for people who choose to live out our church’s doctrine on sexuality and marriage. Elders and pastors are expected to model our understanding of a redeemed sexuality and remain faithful either to one opposite-sex spouse or to a practice of celibacy.

As Christians, we confess that we are not our own but belong—body and soul—to our faithful Lord and Saviour. Therefore, we give our bodies to God, pursuing sexual fidelity as an avenue of obedience to Jesus and to a spouse. We believe God intends sex to be practiced within the covenant of marriage, defined as the “one-flesh” union of one man and one woman in a life-long covenant before God. We believe that any sexual activity outside of this covenant of marriage (adultery, pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, same-sex sexual activity, etc.) conflicts with Jesus’ call upon those who follow him, but never separates a person from Christ's love, or his continued call to live in full obedience to his teachings.

An Apology and a Promise: Creating Safe Spaces and Countering Homophobia, Transphobia & Queerphobia

In addition to defining expectations for leaders at Knox Church, a major concern for this paper is to show that Knox takes seriously the historic and ongoing oppression faced by LGBTQ2I+ people in our city and across the world. If you are a same-sex attracted or LGBTQ2I+ person, perhaps the most important thing you need to hear both Knox and the wider Church say is simply this: “We repent.” We lament that the church has for so long made you feel inferior and sidelined because of your orientation. We grieve that we have not demonstrated love, but judgment and a lack of understanding. We are sorry that we have not listened to your voice, nor recognized your struggles, your longings, your faith, your gifts, your contributions, and much more. And we grieve that we have not represented Jesus to you as we are called to do.

Our repentance is a part of a need for Knox to continue a long-term process of lament and turning away from the harmful attitudes and practices directed toward LGBTQ2I+ people. The PCC officially apologized to LGBTQ2I+ people when the Rev. Peter Bush, Moderator of the 2017 General Assembly, issued a letter of repentance, reminding the church of God’s call “to be a community where we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us.” In January 2020, Knox’s governing body (Session) voted to endorse Rev. Bush’s letter to acknowledge and confess the damage caused by the church’s attitudes and actions.

All of these efforts represent our ongoing stance to denounce any prejudice, hatred and violence—anything that demeans, devalues or deliberately harms LGBTQ2I+ lives. The fair treatment and protection of LGBTQ2I+ people is a matter of justice, part of revealing God’s Kingdom. We are committed to working towards reconciliation between LGBTQ2I+ people and the Church, especially at Knox. We ask all our congregants to help hold us to account in this endeavour. In turn as leaders, we call on our church community to provide vibrant hospitality and deep belonging by taking up the cause of creating safe spaces and dismantling the obstacles which hinder people—especially LGBTQ2I+ people—from seeking Jesus. We live out our faith by enacting the radical love of Christ and carrying each other’s burdens (John 13:34- 35; Galatians 6:2).

In addition to our repentance, we reject the idea that LGBTQ2I+ people need to alter their sexual orientations or gender identities, including those who follow Jesus. In the latter half of the 20th century, various methods and forms of “conversion therapy” developed with the objective of facilitating permanent or lasting changes to a person’s sexual attractions. Overall, many of these programs and “treatments” have caused innumerable harms, offered hollow promises, and in the case of many Christian ministries, succumbed to false teachings. We do not believe that people should be shamed or pressured or forced into attempting to alter or “reverse” the innate attractions which they experience. We grieve the incredible damage that has been caused by conversion therapies, particularly the destructive effects on the well-being and spiritual lives of LGBTQ2I+ people and their families.

Holding a Gospel Posture

We feel that the best way for us to move on from these difficulties is to remind ourselves and the world outside that we are a church that is “Following Jesus, Loving the City, and Serving the World.” For us, it all begins and ends with Jesus. Nothing is more vital than being centred on Christ. Hence, we seek both biblical faithfulness and welcoming embrace, to be honest and uncompromising in our call to follow Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of all. We also know that people come to Jesus in different ways and may be at different stages of spiritual understanding and capacity. We strive to create a safe place for all spiritual seekers and believers to come together in truthful and beloved community. We do not believe gay or bisexual orientations or any gender identities are a sin, nor that those who are LGBTQ2I+ are condemned or have less access to God. We do not believe that people must change their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression in order to follow Jesus. We believe that gender and sexual orientation does not lessen a person's value as a member and participant in our community of faith, nor does it limit their spiritual gifting.

We do believe that all persons, regardless of their sexual orientation, are called to a redeemed sexuality and holiness in thought and action. We invite all people to pursue a spiritual orientation toward God which simultaneously manifests in their orientation towards fellow human beings. When we do this, we willingly submit our humanity, in all its goodness and brokenness, to God and his Kingdom as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus. To be human—whether gay or straight or bisexual or queer or cis or trans—is to be flawed and imperfect but still a beautiful image-bearer of God.

Living Together in Christ

We acknowledge there is a spectrum of conviction among Christians on the matter of human sexuality, both within our congregation and our leadership. In this paper, we’ve outlined the doctrine and practice to be upheld by the pastors and Elders of Knox Church. How, then, do we relate to and live together as a community with Christians who hold a different position?

As people have grown into a family of faith from many denominational backgrounds here at Knox, we have learned to love, live with and learn from Christians with different convictions. Sometimes we disagree on interpretations of particular Scriptures and ‘disputable matters’ (Romans 14). For example, we encompass a range of beliefs around baptism, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, worship structures and styles, pacifism and just war, and Kingdom economics. We believe we can do the same with Christians who interpret the Bible differently regarding same- sex marriage. This is part of what some people refer to as a “Third Way” approach which seeks the unity of our church body in Christ while maintaining a highly diverse congregation and disagreeing on some important issues. We remind ourselves that we have all fallen short of God’s glory and are redeemed only through faith in Jesus.

We are faced with many problems that defy easy solutions and quick fixes. These are problems that require us to become different people, and so require deep and ongoing Christian formation. Therefore, we believe these complex conflicts are opportunities for us to grow new life and demonstrate the character of Christ in Christian virtues like love, hope, faith, charity, and forbearance.

We seek for the church to be a generative space for conversations across differences, for love of God and others to be demonstrated more powerfully across such differences, and for faithful Christian community and witness to be lived amidst disagreements and divisions. That sort of wise and holy church demonstrates a “life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1) and a faith worth following.

Following Jesus requires much learning and discernment. Many in our church are in varying stages of discipleship and faith development as they cultivate Scripture-based and Spirit-led beliefs, convictions and practices. We recognize that there will be LGBTQ2I+ members of our community that will hold and live out a Side A (“affirming”) theology, a Side B (“traditional” or “historic”) theology, or will be in the midst of defining their faith and determining Jesus’s call on many aspects of their life. As Knox seeks to be a community of people who want to know and follow Jesus, and to know and value one another, there is room for everyone. We accept and seek to welcome people who pursue Jesus no matter their sexuality, gender or relationship status, no matter their convictions, interpretation of Scripture or theology, and no matter how vibrant their faith, how audacious their questions, or how persistent their doubts.

Moving Forward With Jesus First

We again invite anyone interested in our church to get to know us and not only a theological position on a controversial matter. Likewise, we want to know and care for each other— potentially in deep, meaningful and life-affirming ways—and not only hear of one other’s beliefs and theological convictions. While important, our position on sexuality and marriage is part of a much bigger picture. Knox Presbyterian Church in Toronto is a dynamic, Spirit-habited community which seeks to maintain a posture of humility and learning, to re-form continuously rooted in Scripture, and to ever grow in our practice of mutuality, hospitality and justice. None of this is possible unless we are first oriented to Jesus.