5 July 2024
Dear Sir Keir Starmer,
Congratulations on becoming Prime Minister. Please be assured of our prayers for you and your Government.
We write as Christian ministers to express our concern at the lack of religious literacy in British public life and the unwarranted hostility this can breed towards those in Bible-believing churches like ours.
One of the major presenting issues is the way people talk about a legislative ban on so-called conversion therapy. Campaigners often imply that expressing mainstream, traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality or gender identity in pastoral conversations is, inherently, a form of ‘conversion therapy’.
Some even want a conversion therapy ban to cover gentle, non-coercive prayer. This raises the alarming prospect of police and prosecutors having to decide whether someone has prayed ‘the wrong kind of prayer’.
Conversations between parents and their children are also at risk from this broad definition of conversion therapy. This would affect gender-critical parents, not just those who are Christian.
We would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with you to discuss our concerns and to explore how we can help fill the religious literacy gap and help the Government better understand Christians and their beliefs.
Yours sincerely,
Revd Dr Thomas Brand
Ministry Director of the Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches
Chairman of the Greater Love Declaration
Revd Graham Nicholls
Christ Church Haywards Heath
Director of Affinity Church Network
Revd Dr Ian Paul
St Nic’s Church Nottingham
Member of the Archbishops’ Council, Church of England
Revd Dr Matthew Roberts
Trinity Church York
Former Moderator of Synod, International Presbyterian Church
Rt Revd Andy Lines
Presiding Bishop of Anglican Network in Europe
Revd Dr Ian Hamilton
President of Westminster Seminary UK
Revd Bill James
Principal of London Seminary
Revd Dave Gobbett
Highfields Church Cardiff
Revd Raymond Brown
East London Tabernacle Baptist Church
Revd David Pfeiffer
Whaddon Road Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Moderator of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales
