Retired Belfast solicitor Colin Flinn
(70) is to set up a new support group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people in the Presbyterian Church.
A former Presbyterian
himself, he told The Irish Times that he was “exploring the
possibility of setting up a support network for LGB&T people over 18
years of age who wish to see the Presbyterian Church in Ireland providing welcome, safety and inclusion.”
Looking to other churches, he said groups “such
Changing Attitude Ireland and Accepting Sexuality have been working for
the inclusion of people in the Church of Ireland and the Irish Methodist Church with considerable success”.
They also provided “a safe space for a wide range of
people including LGB&T people, their families and friends, laypeople
and clergy, to have those conversations surrounding the subject of
sexuality and gender diversity which might be difficult in other places.
I would envisage something similar for Irish Presbyterians,” he said.
Should there be sufficient interest he would
“envisage facilitating a meeting of those who would like to see those
three pillars of welcome, safety and inclusion for LGBT people implanted
in the worship and practice of PCI [Presbyterian Church in Ireland]”.
Those interested should contact him at
lgbtirishpresbyterian@gmail.com, in confidence. “I stress the
confidentiality of any communications,” he said. “I would envisage that
there would be close links between Changing Attitude Ireland and
Accepting Sexuality, but it will be for those meeting together to
determine the shape and scope of the network.”
People growing up in any faith community “have the
reasonable expectation that even when circumstances change, or life goes
off at a tangent, they will continue to receive the support and
fellowship of their fellow religionists through all the vicissitudes
that life throws at them”.