Hi

I am a bisexual man who has only accepted himself since May 2012. I am rejected and bullied by many, including my own family. I am desperate to meet other LGBTI in the faith community but don't know where to begin connecting with churches because I appear effeminate.

Hi Bathsheeba

Welcome to f2b! 🙂 How did you hear about us?

As Jordan said, there are lots of people here who have been where you are. And then they have found support and their lives have changed for the better. It really does get better so don't give up. You are in a good place here so feel free to read others' stories and have a look at our resources in the Support section.

Regarding finding other supports for you, which country are you in?

Blessings,

Ann Maree

Thankyou soooo much to those who replied to my post. I don't feel so alone now. The topic of bisexuality can be confusing for some or we are seen as confused or dishonest. I am neither. I have been a Christian in the closet all my life and only came out to myself in May this year. I intend to try the Metro church in Richmond. I feel lonely and ostracised. I intend to study psychology at Monash uni next year. I will be a mature age student since I am 48. I will definitely be coming to the next Melb f2b catch up.

Apart from f2b meetings, where else I can go to meet LGBTI Christians?

God bless you all.

Dan

Hi Dan

You said:

I will definitely be coming to the next Melb f2b catch up…Apart from f2b meetings, where else I can go to meet LGBTI Christians?

f2b meetings are a great start and the group is a lovely, welcoming one so feel free to send a Private Message to Michelle who runs the group with partner, Linda. She will be glad to be in contact with you and make you feel comfortable about attending. 🙂

What style of church service or denomination do you prefer?

I know you mentioned that you were going to visit the Metropolitan in Richmond. Does age group matter to you? I ask because many years ago I went to Metro and they were mostly a very elderly group albeit a delightful bunch of people.:)

Here is a list of gay friendly churches and supports from this site. It is by no means exhaustive but will give you somewhere to start.

http://www.freedom2b.org/support/faith-religion/

I noticed from the above list that Collins Street Baptist isn't included although I heard some very encouraging things from their assistant minister on a TV program the other day about her support for same sex equality. It made me want to check out their church (which is significant for me as I haven't wanted to check out any church for a while). So that's another idea for you.

You could also contact The Gay Christian Network via: http://www.gaychristian.net

http://www.gaychristian.net/local/australia.php

Here is a list of welcoming gay friendly churches from their website.

http://www.gaychurch.org/Find_a_Church/foriegn_nations/australia.htm

I'm not sure if The Gay Christian Network have groups in Australia but you could contact them and find out. http://www.gaychristian.net/community/gcn_groups_list.php

We used to have some people here who were also associated with this group but I haven't heard from them for a while. If anyone knows about The Gay Christian Network and their involvement in Australia, and if anything is happening in Melbourne, please let us know.

Hope that helps.

Blessings,

Ann Maree

Hi Dan,

Welcome to freedom2b. I hope you find these forums and the chapter meetings a great place of support and encouragement. 🙂

As others have said, I want to encourage you to head to the next chapter meeting in Melbourne. There are many people there who can connect you with a welcoming church or community organisation that's right for you.

Ben