‘Shamed for who I am’: Church shuns youth leader for being gay

A Toowoomba church has responded in an address to its congregation to a claim that it questioned a former youth leader about her sex life and asked her to step down from her role for being gay.

HumeRidge Church of Chris’s pastor Ross Savill. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Church responds to allegations it questioned youth leader over sex life

A Toowoomba church has now responded to the allegations made by a former youth leader of the church that she was questioned about her sex life and asked to step down from her position when it was revealed she was gay.

Katie James opened up to The Chronicle and claimed the Humeridge Church of Christ asked her to step down from her leadership role for being gay in October 2018.

Ms James said the church questioned her about the relationship she had started with another female youth leader and whether or not they had been sexually intimate and now the church in question has responded.

Toowoomba's Humeridge Church of Christ.

Humeridge Church of Christ Senior Pastor Ross Savill raised the topic at the service on Sunday.

Despite The Chronicle’s multiple attempts to contact the church and pastor for comment, he said the story “misrepresented” the church.

“I have a friend who has been part of this place for many, many years – he serves now as a pastor in another church,” Mr Savill said.

“He contacted me last night to simply say that after many, many years here, watching how people are treated – people from very diverse backgrounds, people coming from all sorts of places – he believed the story misrepresented who Humeridge is and who we as a church are striving to be.”

HumeRidge Church of Christ’s Pastor Ross Savill. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The church pastor said while he would answer questions or concerns raised by members of the church, following the service, the church would not enter “the public debate where easily hurt could be caused for all sorts of people.”

“The article presented a story and we’re going to seek to be wise and to be careful, we’re going to seek not to criticise or defend or do anything that may cause hurt,” Mr Savill said.

“I know that there will be people who have very strong opinions in our community following that story – that’s their right.

“We need your support at the moment … we won’t hide anything from you – we’re happy to answer any questions but there’s certain things that we’re not going to speak about publicly.”

Ms James said she dedicated years of her life to the church, where she served as a youth leader for several years and put her entire heart and soul into the role.

The Chronicle attempted to contact the church and pastor again on Monday for comment, but no response was received.

HumeRidge Church of Christ’s Pastor Ross Savill. Picture: Kevin Farmer

‘Shamed for who I am’: Church shuns youth leader for being gay

A Toowoomba church has come under fire after it allegedly asked a former youth leader to step down from her role for being gay and questioned her about her sex life which forced her to come out before she was ready.

Katie James was a 19-year-old youth leader at Humeridge Church of Christ at the time and now almost four years later, she has opened up with the intention of helping young people in the community who may be struggling with their sexuality or others’ lack of acceptance.

Ms James dedicated years of her life to the Toowoomba church, where she served as a youth leader for several years and put her entire heart and soul into the role.

She has struggled with her sexual identity throughout her senior high schools years after she witnessed a fellow classmate who had expressed their sexual orientation publicly get bullied at her Christian high school.

Toowoomba's Katie James has opened up about her personal experience of coming out while being a youth leader at a local church.

“I discovered I had an attraction towards girls that was different from a friendship in my senior years of high school,” Ms James said.

“(Being gay) was something that was never spoken about, but everyone thought it was ‘wrong’ and that caused me a lot of pain.”

Feeling isolated, alone and ashamed, Ms James turned to the church and spent many nights praying to God to make her straight.

She eventually formed a close bond with another female youth leader at the church and the pair entered into a relationship, which they kept a secret for about a year.

“I wasn’t ready to come out, but rumours started, and someone took it upon themselves to tell people in the church that we were dating,” Ms James said.

Toowoomba's Humeridge Church of Christ.

Ms James said in October 2018, the church called her one night to ask if the rumour was true, and after she confirmed it was, they called the pair in for a meeting.

After years of serving as role models and youth leaders to the younger members of the church, Ms James said the church told them if they couldn’t live up to God’s standard, then they would need to step down.

Ms James said the church asked them if they were involved sexually and they were offered books about practising celibacy and that they were loved and welcomed at church, despite their sin.

Despite this, she said members of the church started to treat her differently or stopped speaking to her entirely, which forced her to leave behind everything she had “put her entire heart and life into”.

“We had meetings at the church to discuss how we would need to step down from leadership as it wouldn’t be fair for the parents to send their kids to youth group with certain expectations of their care and that being in a homosexual relationship wouldn’t be respecting their trust,” Ms James said.

“I was told if I wanted any leadership position or anything close to that, I would have to be single and never act on my urges – (the church) said God has expectations and we need to live up to them or we couldn’t be in.”

Protesters march as they hold signs during a rally against the Religious Discrimination Bill on February 04, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. Activists gathered to protest discrimination after Citipointe Christian College asked its students to sign an enrolment contract agreeing to their biological gender and denouncing homosexuality. The principal retracted the policy and apologised but some continue to call for his resignation. Picture: Jono Searle / Getty Images

Ms James decided to share her story in light of the controversial contract that was recently issued to parents of a Christian Brisbane school and was later revoked due to mass public outrage.

“The whole thing has really made me look at things differently … I was heavily involved with the church, I was a leader, I shared my story about mental illness in front of everyone, I spent my 18th birthday at the church helping out, the church was my home … to have that ripped away from me without a second thought made me question what I even believed in anymore,” she said.

“I call myself a person of faith because I believe in something, but I’m not sure what, and I don’t want to relate myself to the institution that has caused me so much pain – I now know it’s okay to be me and I can still have faith though – the two aren’t exclusive.”

As her family and friends were all associated with the church at the time, the incident forced Ms James to come out to all her loved ones – a decision that had been taken out of her hands.

She said while it was difficult for her family to come to terms with, her parents had continued to love and accept her.

“A person I’m close to recently compared my homosexual urges to those of a paedophile’s and that was really horrible – they said I would be rewarded in heaven if I fought and resist my urges,” Ms James said.

“What some people don’t understand is this is the reality for members of the LGBTIQA+ community, this isn’t new and it’s happening here.”

Toowoomba's Katie James has opened up about her personal experience of coming out while being a youth leader at a local church.

Now aged 22, Ms James said while it had taken her the past three and a half years to feel comfortable in being who she was, she hoped her story would help other young people going through a similar experience.

“It’s all about for me learning to stand up for myself, and this issue has become so important to me because I’m at that point now where I am comfortable in my sexuality to go ‘no this isn’t okay’, and someone has to stand up for these kids and that’s something I needed and didn’t have growing up,” she said.

“Find that one safe person you have – just one person who you can just sit with and be you.

“It’s so easy to hide yourself and shame yourself, but if you can find that one person who is an ally and let your guard down, you’re never alone and there’s always going to be people fighting for you.”

The Chronicle attempted to contact the Humeridge Church of Christ for comment on multiple occasions, without a response.

If you are struggling, phone Lifeline on 13 11 14 or QLife on 1800 184 527.