• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • United Church of Christ News
  • Synod delegates ‘deplore’ conversion therapy, call for its ban
GS33LogoRainbowBckgd

Synod delegates ‘deplore’ conversion therapy, call for its ban

by Tim Kershner | published on Jul 19, 2021

Delegates to the United Church of Christ General Synod condemned conversion therapy, the medical practice that attempts to “cure” the sexual or gender identity of LGBTQ individuals.

With more than 98 percent of those voting in agreement, the gathering called on local congregations to “advocate for state and federal laws protecting adults, youth and children” from the practice. They also called on parents, ministers and caregivers to “protect those in their care” from persons or programs which may use conversion therapy. 

The vote came July 18 during the final plenary session of the UCC’s biennial national meeting.

Local action ‘strongly urged’

Conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, is legal in all 50 states, though the practice is banned on minors in 20 states. Efforts are underway in several state legislatures to end the practice. Most medical bodies, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, believe this therapy is “ineffective, unethical or harmful.”

The Rev. Chrystal McCormick speaks for the resolution.

The Rev. Crystal McCormick, a pastor from the South Central Conference, chaired the delegate committee reviewing the resolution. In recommending its adoption she noted the committee’s “strong consensus” on connection between conversion therapy and “suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideations” for LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Submitted by the UCC Open and Affirming Coalition and the UCC Mental Health Network, the original resolution was amended to strengthen the document’s language to “strongly urge” local churches and members to work toward a ban on the practices, and to work with ecumenical partners in their work to share information regarding conversation therapy.

Andrew Lang, executive director of the Open and Affirming Coalition, is “grateful” for the clear message sent to churches insisting on prohibition of “any medical practice based on the assumption that non-conforming sexual orientation or gender identity is a ‘disease.’” 

‘Barbaric practices’

The Rev Izzy Harbin testifies to conversion therapy’s harm.

Proponents noted research showing conversion therapy is “associated with compromised mental health and that those who received conversion therapy experienced greater thoughts of suicide and suicide attempts.” Data from the Trevor Project found that 42 percent of conversion therapy subjects attempted to end their life.

The Rev. Izzy Harbin, a delegate of the Indiana-Kentucky Conference, identified herself as a “survivor” of this therapy. She spoke in favor of the resolution.

“The so-called reparative methods did incredible harm to my self-worth and reinforced my established internalized homophobia and shame,” she said. “I found my own help that I needed and began my own healing process from these barbaric and evil practices. However not everyone is not so fortunate.” She urged delegates to vote yes as a step towards ending “these barbaric practices.”

Tim Kershner, a longtime General Synod Newsroom volunteer, lives in Campton, N.H., in the New Hampshire Conference.

Categories: United Church of Christ News

Get the UCC in your inbox!

Sign up for the weekly UCC News Digest

Privacy Policy
 
 

Related News

United Church of Christ News

Officers grieve ‘mobilization of hatred,’ mass murders in California shootings

The national officers of the United Church of Christ offer public condolences after two mass...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

‘We must dance’ to transform our democracy, Otis Moss lll urges at interfaith MLK event

It takes a “village of resilience” to raise the moral imagination of the next...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

A different kind of anniversary: UCC D.C. director marks Roe v. Wade

Sandy Sorensen, director of the United Church of Christ Office of Public Policy and...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative