Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 03:2 (Fall 2021)
Article: Uncertain Voices: Revoice ‘21 Reviewed
Author: Bethel McGrew

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 38

Uncertain Voices: Revoice ‘21 Reviewed

Bethel McGrew

Bethel McGrew is a widely published essayist and social critic. She holds a doctorate in mathematics and makes her living as a high school teacher.

From October 7–9, 2021, Dallas’s Chase Oaks Church hosted the fourth annual convention of Revoice, a conference conceived “to support and encourage Christians who are sexual minorities so they can flourish in historic Christian traditions.” The conference has been the focus of intense debate and controversy since its 2018 launch, with voices to the right offering concerned criticism of founding work by “Side B” writers like Eve Tushnet, Wesley Hill, and Ron Belgau. (For the unaware, “Side B” and “Side A” are shorthand terms for self-described Christians who comfortably self-identify as “gay” but are divided on the ethics of gay acts. “Side B” abstains from gay practice, while “Side A” includes affirming revisionist voices like Matthew Vines or Justin Lee.) With the exception of Tushnet, most of the original Revoice voices did not speak at the 2021 convention, which featured a new mix of laymen and active ministry workers.

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 39

For those of us familiar with the debate, the conference proceeded along some predictable lines. Eve Tushnet opened the event by affirming attendees’ grievances even against church people who “may have loved you well in many ways,”1 because (she takes as a given) these mentors were incompetent to address same-sex attraction (SSA). By contrast, she encourages attendees to explore what it would mean if they were “grateful to be gay.”2 Airing grievances would be a recurring theme throughout multiple sessions, as speakers alternately expressed anger, frustration, and sadness over perceived hurts at the hands of other Christians. Exploring the positive facets of same-sex attraction was likewise a topical staple.

Eikon 3.2 (Fall 2021) p. 40

But controversies specific to 2021 hung over this particular convention, particularly the PCA’s recently proposed constitutional amendments on gay pastors and church officers. From beginning to end, the core message was the same: While there may be individual exceptions, the church writ large has handled this issue horribly wrong, but Revoice has the antidote.

Still Time To Care

PCA Pastor Greg Johnson was the first pastor to host Revoice, at Missouri’s Memorial Presbyterian Church. He came out as gay himself the following year, and much of the PCA controversy has subsequently swirled around him. His book Still Time to Care is p...