If you have chosen to read this article, then you find yourself in a privileged position because here, at InTheFray, I have decided to announce my introduction to the team by coming out.

I hope that by coming out I will gain respect. I hope that people will listen to my voice and interact creatively without stereotyping me and
labeling me.

By coming out in such a forum as this, I hope to appeal to your sense of fairness. I know that there are people like me on TV and in the theater. We have our own radio stations and magazines. Some of us wear peculiar clothing, but most of us are regular people who live regular lives.

You see what I am trying to say is this: I want to, erm, well, admit publicly to the fact that I’m…

OK, I will try and get to the point. It’s not easy because once I make my announcement and put it out there in public, then I’m afraid you will judge me and color my views with your own perceptions of my “type.”

Ok, here we go. I want to tell the world that I am — a Baptist pastor!

Now I wonder if it would have helped my cause if I was announcing that I was gay? But I’m not. The fact is that I am an ordained Baptist pastor in Australia.

You may wonder why I was so apprehensive in alerting you to my status. From my vantage point as an Englishman now residing in Australia, I have been able to witness the rise of conservative evangelicals in the U.S. and it scares me.

I follow my vocation because I believe that the Bible is still relevant for today; not my own particular spin on the Bible; not my political ideology glossed over by putting the label “Christian” on it, but simply the words of the Bible considered and lived out.

I joined the team at ITF because I want to add my voice to the growing realm of writers and thinkers on the Internet. I am left-wing in my politics, and I believe that socialism still has a powerful message if only the left could agree on core fundamentals.

I do not want you to label me and box me in. If you stridently disagree with anything that I may say over the coming weeks, then please respond freely. I will not ignore anyone, no matter what your viewpoint. All I ask is that I receive the same respect in return. For too long, the American conservative wing of the church, often personified in the Moral Majority, have dictated how Christianity is perceived and, in particular, how a Christian political viewpoint is perceived. I am here to take small steps to change that.

I do not claim to have easy answers, but I am prepared to ask questions and to attempt to mold answers through dialogue. I am not liberal either, in case you were wondering. What am I? Who am I? Well, let’s see if we can explore those questions together. Why not look upon this as a journey. I will consider current affairs, indigenous issues in Australia, the relationship between Britain, Australia, and the U.S. I am also happy to talk about life in Australia, and I am MORE than happy to talk about soccer, which is my consuming passion.

Life is not meant to be easy, but it is meant to be lived. In living together, we may begin to see beyond the externals and discover that we each have treasures within that will enrich all of us as we get closer in dialogue.

Please feel free to email me with suggestions for content that you may wish to see explored from a British, Australian or Christian perspective.

Until next week,
Rev. Les