At the South Yarra Community Baptist Church, LGBTIQA+ folk and rainbow families are not just tolerated, but honoured, loved, affirmed, and welcome to participate fully at every level of the church’s life. We acknowledge with sorrow that we are part of a wider church that has too often been guilty of scapegoating, vilifying and abusing the LGBTIQA+ community, and we repent of our complicity in that past and commit ourselves to being a sign of reconciling love in the future.
If you are looking for an exclusively gay church, we can’t offer you that, but if you are looking for a genuinely inclusive and LGBTIQA+ affirming church in Melbourne, Australia, where following Jesus is taken seriously and joyously, we might be the answer to your prayers. We understand why people who have been rejected or wounded by churches would want to band together in churches of their own, and we offer a twice-monthly worship service catering mainly for LGBTIQA+ folks and allies, but we hope that the need for that is receding. We want to follow Jesus in creating a prayerful and hospitable community that is radically mixed and inclusive, where there can be reconciliation across all that would divide us. If that’s the kind of community you hunger to be part of, we would be honoured to share our worship with you at any time you are able to visit us. Click here for the brief version of what to expect and what you might want to know the first time you visit.
The Mid-Week Gathering, catering mainly for LGBTIQ+ folks and allies, is a short physically gathered liturgy at the church with shared meal to follow. It is held on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month, at the church, beginning at 6:30pm.
Click here to read the poem “Big Fleshy Man’s Heart”, which was written and shared by a gay Christian man as his testimony when he was being welcomed into the membership of our church.
Click here to read an essay by our pastor on Homosexuality and Same-Sex Marriage
Click here to see our pastor on national television advocating for same-sex marriage
Click here to read a gay pastor’s reflections on the Orlando Nightclub massacre.
If you are looking for an LGBTIQ affirming church elsewhere, we recommend the affirming church directory at GayChurch.com
