Church “Cast Spirit Of Homosexuality Out” Of Gayman

Church “Cast Spirit Of Homosexuality Out” Of Gayman

A gay man, Sylvester Harrison Moran has said a church tried to command the “spirit of homosexuality” to leave him with prayers.

Harrison Moran said he was so anxious during a conversion therapy session, run by St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield, that he vomited and was then told a demon had left him.

The government has begun the process of banning conversion therapy in the UK.

The church said Mr Harrison Moran’s experience was a “past practice“, which it was determined to learn from.

Mr Harrison Moran, 36, said he was a teenager hoping to become a minister when he joined the church.

He said he was encouraged to go on a prayer ministry weekend after telling church leaders of the conflict he felt between his sexuality and his religious beliefs.

“We were encouraged to be vulnerable and write down all of our sins,” he said.

“The intention was to ‘get rid of the gay’ and I was made to feel it [being gay] was wrong. It was a social pressure.

“I was even advised to talk about having homosexual tendencies, as opposed to being gay, so it wasn’t [considered] part of my personality – it was like just a thing or a spirit or something.

“I was prayed over and the spirit of homosexuality was commanded to come out of me. Hands were laid on me.

“It looked like what you might see in a film, and I vomited.

“Apparently that was normal. If people vomited or screamed, that was definitely a spirit leaving them.”

Mr Harrison Moran, who now lives in Leicester and is married to a husband, said: “Looking back, I think I was just anxious and that made me sick. I had drunk a cup of milky coffee and had been disclosing very personal things to people who, in retrospect, had no counselling credentials.

“At the time it all felt normal. I thought this was the normal process people in my situation went through in order to become what I suppose was the ideal, to be heterosexual.

“Looking [back] at it from the outside you say to yourself ‘that’s ridiculous, how have I believed that? How have I allowed that to happen?’

“I felt stupid.”

Mr Harrison Moran said he began to distance himself from the church after the experience, eventually leaving Sheffield entirely.

He added: “Now I am fine. I’m happy with my life but it [the conversion therapy] did have an impact.

“There was some trauma to work through and I was helped by qualified, professional therapists.

“I want people to know what happened to me and I want anyone who is in a situation like mine to remember they are fabulous.

“There is nothing wrong with them – it is the people trying to change them who are wrong.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Network Church Sheffield, of which St Thomas Philadelphia is a part, said: “We are saddened to learn of this person’s experience of being part of the church over 10 years ago.

“The church is now under different leadership.

“The experiences he has described raise significant concerns about past practice, which we are determined to review and learn from. We continue with our commitment to be a kind and generous congregation working to serve all the people of Sheffield.”

The Diocese of Sheffield launched a review after another complaint from another man, who said he underwent conversion therapy at St Thomas Philadelphia.

A diocese spokesperson told the BBC: “We await the recommendations of the final complete report in the new year before considering what further actions may be necessary.

“We recognise how difficult it is for victims and survivors of abuse to come forward and urge anyone affected by this to contact our safeguarding team.”

The government has previously described the therapy as “abhorrent“. It first pledged to outlaw it in England and Wales 2018 as part of its LGBT+ Action Plan.

However, the legislation was not in the King’s Speech last month.

A government spokesperson said they were “carefully considering” the issue.

BBC