“Probably Not a Real Christian” with Curt Allison

Our guest Curt Allison has faced this accusation repeatedly in his life of faith. Curt is Minister of Outreach at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver. He directs the Gospel Choir and leads an LGBTQ spirituality discussion group called, The Word is OUT.

We loved speaking with Curt and continue to be compelled by his appreciation of a faith background that often told him he was unacceptable. In our current culture that can be so polarized, Curt demonstrates a love for all people. Curt tells us about his journey from Oklahoma to Vancouver, from “the fundamental fundamentalist” to a much more welcoming faith and a journey through the dark night of the soul to acceptance and hope.

Episode Terminology

Dark Night of the Soul - 16th Century Spanish Christian mystic John of the Cross used this term to describe the feeling of being cut off from God, from a sense of being alive, from prayers being heard. Dark Night of the Soul has come to refer to a part of the spiritual life that is experienced as barrenness. In more recent times it has been discussed alongside concepts such as depression. In theological terms, the Dark Night of the Soul spoke to the idea that God is unknowable and sovereign and may remove from us the sense of divine presence resulting in a feeling of lifelessness. Similar concepts can be found in the 14th Century work called “The Cloud of Unknowing”.

Exodus Ministry - Exodus ministry (using the metaphor of freedom from slavery in Egypt from the Biblical Book of Exodus) was one manifestation of “ministry” to people who did not fit the culturally and religiously accepted norms in regards to sexuality. These ministries often included a kind of conversion therapy that cast healing as either not being gay anymore or as being able to control and deny such an identity in terms of behaviour. In this episode Curt speaks of his experience in Exodus as actually contributing to his self-acceptance and even as contributing to the awareness that he was not alone in his experience. Many of the leaders of Exodus disavowed the programme including the president of the organization in 2012. The ministry closed in 2013.