89:). His family were committed to church life during his early years but as a teenager Anthony felt that the rituals, language and beliefs were irrelevant not only to him but also the generation of the 60's and he ceased all involvement in the church. It was also at this time the awareness of his homosexuality increased. Australian society in the 60's viewed homosexuality as a mental illness/perversion and it was a criminal offence. This led to deep depression and a suicide attempt. Anthony Venn-Brown eventually made contact with evangelical Anglicans in the Sydney Diocese in his quest to be "normal" and acceptable to his family and friends and was converted in 1969. After his conversion in 1969, Anthony continued to be involved in evangelism and was baptised in a Baptist church. Many times he felt that God had answered his prayer and that he had been set free of his attraction to the same sex. However, although these moments were spiritually exhilarating they did not have a lasting impact on his life. Believing that 'more faith and more power' was needed to overcome his 'problem', Anthony began to explore his Christianity in the Charismatic renewal, which had just commenced in Sydney, and also traditional Pentecostal contexts. In 1971, after feeling a strong call to ministry, Anthony attended Faith Bible College, a pastoral and missionary training centre in New Zealand. After confessing to the leadership of the college that he still struggled with homosexuality, he underwent several weeks of exorcisms through the ministry of Pastor Neville Johnson at Queen Street Assemblies of God in Auckland. However, on returning to Australia, Anthony was still troubled by his sexuality, and believing that he could never serve God until this part of his life was overcome, he signed himself into a 'live-in' ex-gay program for six months at Moombara and Bundeena Christian Fellowship (a rehabilitation centre that claimed success for drug addicts, prostitutes and homosexuals). Anthony then moved to
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community. One of the models that he has developed is "Creating a Space for Change". This is a non-confrontational way of changing stereotypes and preconceived ideas. One of the first people to be involved in this dialogue was Pastor Mike
Hercock, a Baptist minister who was leading a church in Darlinghurst, Sydney. A friendship developed and Anthony relayed the many stories of tragedy and loss experienced by gay and lesbian people who had been rejected by the church. Anthony introduced Mike to the work of Freedom 2b. He was deeply touched by the stories of those he met. In 2007, Freedom 2b marched for the first time in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade. Seeing the profound impact this had on those who had lived for so many years in shame, guilt and fear, Pastor Hercock stated that the following year he would encourage 100
204:"As ministers of various churches and denominations we recognise that the churches we belong to, and the church in general, have not been places of welcome for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. Indeed the church has often been profoundly unloving toward the GLBT community. For these things we apologise, whatever the distinctive of our Christian position on human sexuality – to which we remain committed. We are deeply sorry and ask for the forgiveness of the GLBT community. We long that the church would be a place of welcome for all people and commit ourselves to pursuing this goal."
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areas of faith sexuality conflict, working with gay and lesbian people in heterosexual marriages and creating respectful, informed dialogues between the LGBT community and the Church. Anthony was twice voted one of
Australia's 25 Most Influential Gay & Lesbian Australians (2007 & 2009). Anthony was nominated for an ACON Honour Award in September 2011 in the category of Community Hero . These awards recognise outstanding LGBT community achievements and/or contributions.
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In 2010, Anthony was invited to lecture on "An
Alternative Approach to Sexual Orientation, Gender Diversity and the Christian Faith" at Tabor College in Melbourne (one of Australia's leading bible colleges). This was the first time an openly gay man was invited to speak at a Evangelical bible college
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Preferring to be known as a gay ambassador instead of gay activist, Venn-Brown is now a representative and advocate of gay and lesbian people. He seeks to create an informed, intelligent yet respectful dialogue about the issues of same sex orientation within the
Christian and particularly Pentecostal
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on 23 February 1985. Some more conservative members of the
Assemblies of God opposed the event because of the use of Christian rock music and walked out. However, Youth Alive became a very successful youth organisation and eventually grew to events of over 20 000 people. Venn-Brown eventually handed
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programs in
Australia. The film is currently (2012) being shown around Australia and has led to a number of newspaper articles on the role of the Australian church in the promotion of current ex-gay programs in Australia . Anthony Venn-Brown and psychologist Paul Martin were quoted as stating that
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In 2011, Anthony resigned as the leader of
Freedom 2b to concentrate further on his bridge-building, ambassadorial and educational activities. He has recently founded Ambassadors and Bridge Builders International, his focus continues to be the deconstruction of the 'ex-gay' myth, educating in the
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was published in 2007. Anthony doesn't feel he will return to preaching, saying "30 years down the track someone who is gay or lesbian will be allowed to minister. I hope I'm there to see it, but I feel I've had my ministry. When I came back to God I felt like I had the essence of what it was all
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The
Assemblies of God asked Venn-Brown to start a new youth work to replace the NSW Assemblies of God current youth organisation which was called Christ's ambassadors and start some large scale youth events. The first Youth Alive event was a concert held in the beachside suburb of
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In 2012, Anthony was awarded a lifetime membership of the Sydney Gay and
Lesbian Business Association (SGLBA) for his work with the LGBT community including the creation of the Ambassadors and Bridge Builders International organisation (ABBI) and the founding of Freedom2b.
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about. What I have now is real. I have learned to live non-judgementally, to live with integrity and I didn't have that as a preacher." Anthony Venn-Brown was one of the keynote speakers at the 2008 "Evangelical
Network Conference" in Arizona.
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The book detailed his struggle to reconcile his homosexuality with his Christian beliefs. It won the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association Literary award in 2004. The revised edition,
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community for the way the church had mistreated them and march in the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This movement became known as the 100 Revs and led to the following statement.
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with his family in the early 1980s and founding "Every Believer Evangelism." Venn-Brown became a popular preacher at all the major churches of the
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In 2007, Anthony co-ordinated the release of a statement from five Australian ex-gay leaders who publicly apologized for their past actions.
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describes his experience in Australia's first ex-gay program. He is also the Co-founder and previous Convenor of
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as a gay man, this was after being caught having an affair with a man. In 2004, he published his autobiography,
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backgrounds. He is also the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI).
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in 1972 and began youth work for the local Assemblies of God Church and was married in 1974.
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as he wanted to concentrate on developing "Every Believer Evangelism".Venn-Brown, A. (2007)
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ex-gay programs caused "deep psychological damage" and had even led to suicides.
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in Australia. Anthony was also featured on the ABC series, Hungry Beast in 2010.
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Anthony Venn-Brown was born in 1951 and raised in a family with a strong
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295:"Anthony Venn Brown – Mr Charismatic Gay Australia", 15 February 2007
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A Life of Unlearning - Coming out of the church, One Man's Struggle.
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OAM (born 13 March 1951) is a former Australian evangelist in the
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members in an Australian documentary "The Cure" which examined
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now (Australian Christian Churches) and an author whose book,
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283:"Reconciling religious faith and sexuality", 10 March 2011
347:"Apology from Former ex gay leaders ", 16 August 2007
188:Dialogue between the church and the LGBT community
181:A Life of Unlearning - a Journey to Find the Truth
272:" A life of Unlearning" accessed 6 September 2012
161:A Life of unlearning: a journey to find the truth
398:"A gong for gays of influence", 9 September 2007
171:Venn-Brown resigned as a minister in 1991 after
433:"Ministries preying on gay shame", 8 April 2012
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22:Anthony Venn-Brown Photograph by Marcus Mok.
421:"Healing the gay worshipper", 8 April 2012
366:series=Hungry Beast|network= ABC1|season=2
253:(OAM), For service to the LGBTIQ community.
536:774 ABC Melbourne "Guilt about the past"
386:"New leader for Freedom 2b", 13 July 2011
471:"Venn-Brown honoured", 23 September 2012
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585:Anthony Venn Brown (14 October 2011).
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410:"The Cure", accessed 12 October 2012
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155:over the ministry to his assistant
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564:Ray Martin (19 August 2007).
532:"Exgay Australia-New Zealand"
492:Queen's Birthday Honours 2020
101:Venn-Brown pioneered several
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139:Christian Life Centre
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251:Order of Australia
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248:8 June 2020
195:Evangelical
145:Youth Alive
71:Evangelical
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592:14 October
539:2009-08-20
258:References
173:coming out
167:Coming out
157:Pat Mesiti
109:including
77:Early life
39:Freedom 2b
456:9 October
220:Freedom2b
123:Laurieton
523:Archived
474:Archived
369:Archived
350:Archived
328:cite web
119:Wauchope
115:Gunnedah
63:Intersex
55:Bisexual
576:7 April
555:9 April
318:6 April
235:Honours
51:Lesbian
502:7 June
224:ex-gay
127:Sydney
43:GLBTIQ
496:(PDF)
67:Queer
594:2011
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557:2012
504:2020
458:2012
334:link
320:2010
199:LGBT
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