Brought up in a fundamentalist religious cult in Aotearoa/New Zealand, I managed to escape at the age of 19 before they could push me into marriage and breeding duties. After a few years of wild living, sex, drugs, rock and roll I started exploring what religion was all about. Being very ecumenical I went to Baptist, Church of Christ, Anglican and Pentecostal churches however then the realization hit that I was actually a lesbian. The breakthrough for me happened when I realised that God loved me for who I was and that it did not matter what I had done in the past or what I would do in the future God loved me. Eventually I found MCC (Metropolitan Community Church) and after completing a degree in Theology at the Baptist College I began the process of becoming a minister with MCC resulting in my ordination in September 2009.
I was the Pastor at MCC Melbourne but am currently not in ministry with MCC. However I am exploring with the Elders the option of starting a new and different ministry here in Melbourne. Meanwhile I enjoy working for the State Emergency Service Peer Support as a Clinical Officer providing psychological support to the volunteers.
I guess my theology has been and could be described as liberal. I do not believe it is the role of ministers to tell people how to live rather to encourage people to explore their spirituality. For some people it may mean that the expression of their spirituality is Christianity for others Buddhism or it may be some other formal religion or for others it is their own personal expression.
"The Pom" : Bertie
In my younger days I was known as the “wild-child!” Now that a degree of maturity has finally set in, I’m just an old wino who loves a good party! The nickname Bertie comes from my surname Bertram. Sue was such a popular baby-boomer name - we were all given a nickname at school to help the teachers differentiate between us! Born in Edinburgh, I ran my own hospitality business in London until I moved to Melbourne in July 2010 with my gorgeous wife Anne and our dog Billie......and lov’in it!
Scotland is predominantly Presbyterian but my family are not actively religious and only attended church for social events. Singing in the school church choir was the closest I got to anything religious. So I was raised as a “free-thinker” and allowed to form my own opinions. I am an agnostic and a Darwinist, subscribing to the more scientific theory of human evolution rather than the Bible’s fictitious stories! You don’t need to be religious to be spiritual and spirituality to me means having a “sense of self!” Being part of Spirit Lounge is teaching us a lot about the many modern-day religions and hopefully is helping our community by offering a forum where we can openly discuss and debate the different ways to integrate our spirituality and sexuality.
"The Poof" : Andrew
I've been brought up in the Uniting Church, and have strong ties to my church community, which has become my pseudo-family. I try to get along to activities, small groups and worship each week, but does that make me a good christian? Probably not. I'm not sure what does. I'd like to talk about that, and explore it a bit more.
Over the past couple of years I have started exploring my faith and sexuality more so than in my younger years, and found that many of my friends were shocked that a boy like me could possibly identify as christian. I would get gasps sometimes when I couldn't attend a Sunday night party or Wednesday evening drinks because of my church commitments. I thought to myself, is it that hard to link Gay-world and God-world? Shouldn't it all mesh together into some beautiful rainbow colored tapestry?
I guess that's why I am here, online and on-air; to explore my views on how God-world and Gay-world can sit together in my life, and maybe how they sit together in yours.