Tag: chris clark

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Saddleback Church Purges LGBTQ Ministry Pages, But Of Course We Have Copies of Them

Three months ago we brought you the exclusive story that radical Pro-LGBTQ activists were running Saddleback Church’s family ministries Lead to Love. 

Initially we uncovered the fact that Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church has gay-affirming pastors and ministries, recommends pro-LGBTQ+ counseling for children, and that they’re poised to put on a conference where nearly all the speakers are pro-homosexuality, including one man who is “married” to a “husband” and runs a pro-LGBTQ+ organization.

One of the speakers at this event was Chris Clark. He leads Premarital Mentors and Church Counseling Training at Saddleback. Years ago, his daughter came out as transgendered, and in response, he co-founded an ‘Embracing the Journey’ chapter at Saddleback, along with Shauna and Doug Habel- two radicals if there ever were some. 

Embracing the Journey is an openly “affirming” pro-LBGTQ+ ministry that routinely partners with aggressive pro-LBGTQ activist organizations like The Reformation Project, which seek to advance full LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. In 2020 they entered into a partnership with Saddleback Church to be their go-to resource for parents with kids who are struggling with their sexuality, and Saddleback even cut a video endorsing the group. 

But now Saddleback is doing another sort of cutting.

Following a widely circulated article by Megan Basham about these very things, Pastor Chris Clark is no longer scheduled to be a speaker at the event, and the ministry page for Embracing the Journey is gone from Saddleback.

But of course, here at Protestia, things are never really gone.

Megan also points this out, asking similar questions that we did.

We reached out to Saddleback for comment but did not receive a response.

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Radical Pro-LGBTQ+ Activist is Running SBC Megachurch’s Family Ministry

We recently uncovered the fact that Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church has gay-affirming pastors and ministries, recommends pro-LGBTQ+ counseling for children, and that they’re poised to put on a conference where nearly all the speakers are pro-homosexuality, including one man who is “married” to a “husband” and runs a pro-LGBTQ+ organization.

One of the speakers at this event is Chris Clark. He is a pastor at the 25,000-member, 14-campus Saddleback Church, where he leads Premarital Mentors and Church Counseling Training. Years ago, his daughter came out as transgendered, and in response, he co-founded an ‘Embracing the Journey’ chapter at Saddleback, along with Shauna and Doug Habel. 

Embracing the Journey is an openly “affirming” pro-LBGTQ+ ministry that routinely partners with aggressive pro-LBGTQ activist organizations like The Reformation Project, which seek to advance full LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. In 2020 they entered into a partnership with Saddleback Church to be their go-to resource for parents with kids who are struggling with their sexuality, and Saddleback even cut a video endorsing the group. 

The Habels are longtime members of Saddleback Church, attending for over a decade. According to their ETJ bio, in 2016, Shauna attended The Reformation Project conference (a prominent pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy group). There “she saw gay Christians studying the Bible and worshipping God. She saw their vibrant faith, despite the pain they faced” and came to believe that homosexuality was not sinful. 

Shauna, in particular, became radicalized over the years, attending Fuller Seminary to receive a MA in Justice and Advocacy and coming to lead panels on behalf of ETJ for Reformation Project. She’s a leader in Saddleback and has grown the ministry. Saddleback Church now hosts four ongoing support groups and one small group for Embracing the Journey.

Shauna claims that “we are not in either the left or right lane, but in the moderate middle of unconditional love for our children,” but it’s evident that this is not the case, particularly when she reveals she works with conservative parents to help them become “affirming.”

Shauna requests a shoutout from Freed Hearts, the affirming ministry of Susan Cottrell. OutSmart magazine called Cottrell ‘The Mother of All MamaBears’ and the famed gay magazine The Advocate dubbed her “our favorite affirming matriarch.” She is a prominent voice for the LGBTQ+ community and has the statistically unlikely odds of having two children who are gay. 

When she’s not requesting shoutouts from gay-affirming organizations, she’s giving them, offering a flyer to Beloved Arise, “the first national organization dedicated primarily to empowering youth to proudly embrace both their faith and queer identity.” Beloved Arise in turn recommends Embracing the Journey, Along with Freed Hearts and PFLAG.

These are the people and personalities leading the care group for desperate parents who come to Saddleback seeking counsel and resources for their struggling children. Pro-LGBTQ+ Embracing the Journey, an affirming pastor, and a radical ministry leader who believes it is her mission to help people cast aside God’s good designs for biblical sexuality so that she might instead affirm them in their sin.

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Another One?!! Saddleback Church Promotes and Partners with Pro-LGBTQ+ Ministry ‘Embracing the Journey’

With the revelation that Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church has gay-affirming pastors and ministries and is putting on a conference where almost all the speakers are pro-LGBTQ+, another megachurch has emerged with a similar story.

Saddleback Church, formerly led by Rick Warren and now by Andy Wood, is likewise promoting and partnering with a pro-LGBTQ ministry to offer counseling and resources to parents whose children are struggling with their LGBTQ+ identities. 

In September 2023, North point church is hosting a conference hosted by Embracing the Journey (ETJ), a radical pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy group fouded by Greg and Lynn McDonald, members of North Point church. They’re as subversive as they come, painting themselves as non-theological despite all their resources and endorsements being exclusively gay-affirming and routinely partnering with gay-affirming organizations. At this conference, nearly all the speakers are pro-homosexuality, including one man who is “married” to a “husband” and runs a pro-LGBTQ+ organization. 

Another speaker at this event is Chris Clark. He is a pastor at Saddleback Church, where he leads Premarital Mentors and Church Counseling Training. Years ago, his daughter came out as transgendered, and in response, he co-founded an ‘Embracing the Journey’ chapter at Saddleback, along with Shauna and Doug Habel. 

The Habels are longtime members of Saddleback church. According to their ETJ bio, in 2016, she attended The Reformation Project conference (a prominent pro-LGBTQ+ advocacy group). There “she saw gay Christians studying the Bible and worshipping God. She saw their vibrant faith, despite the pain they faced” and came to believe that homosexuality was not sinful. Like Clark, their daughter came out as a lesbian the following year, and in 2020 they co-founded ETJ with him.

That same year, ETJ became intentional about expanding its reach. According to their Guidestar Profile

“In 2020 Embracing the Journey began work on developing a strategic messaging framework. We developed a new partnership with Saddleback Church and both Saddleback Church and North Point Community Church created a video endorsement for ETJ. We recruited and developed 19 new volunteers in six differennt states. We provided one-on coaching and biblically based counseling to 328 parents from 24 states and 11 countries. We expanded the ETJ parent support groups with 150+ parents participating in 10 small groups. 2020 communications participated in north points Re;Group”

Once parents get plugged into this ministry, they’re told their child can’t change and are counseled to love and affirm them as they are. They’re not told that their kids are perhaps confused or impressionable, or there is hope to have their sexuality shaped and redeemed by the gospel. Instead, the thrust of the messaging is to affirm their identity because ETJ does not believe sexual orientation is changeable and that the power of the Holy Spirit can lean them towards heterosexuality.

Once they’re in ETJ, the trajectory and messaging are clear; there is no such thing as “and such were some of you, but you were washed…”

And Saddleback Church is a part of it.