Jennifer Knapp’s lesbian story ‘far too common’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Love Award-winning artist Jennifer Knapp has revealed in a series of interviews that she is a lesbian and in a relationship – a revelation that may come as a shock to many in the community. but it will be a lesson for the Evangelical Church, said a leader of the Southern Baptist Convention. Bob Stith, Southern Baptist’s national strategist on gender issues and a representative of the Catholic Church. The sect’s gay ministry task force, said Knapp’s story was “too common” among missionaries. as a partner of jennifer knapp “Many of us on a gay rights redemption mission have heard the comment ‘we don’t have that problem in our church’ so it’s become a regular common joke,” Stith told Baptist Press, “Whether or not your church has someone known to struggle with this problem, your church has this problem too. you don’t know about it because struts don’t think it’s a safe environment to admit such a thing.” Knapp won the 1999 Dove Award for New Artist of the Year, the first in number four Dove Awards she won over the next 5 years. She was also nominated for a Grammy in 2003. Her music was played regularly on Christian radio at the time – “Undo Me” and ” Whole Again” are two of her more popular songs – but then she went on hiatus for a long time and went unreleased. No album since 2001’s “The Way I Am,” she said. Over the past eight years, she and her partner have traveled throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Her next album, “Letting Go,” was a mainstream album. She still considers herself a Christian – she says the Bible “saved my life” – but remains unconvinced by the often-quoted Bible verses condemning homosexuality. into theological debate about whether or not we should allow homosexuals in our churches,” she told Christian Today. “There is a spirit that pervades that for me, and what I am aiming for in Christ and why I became a Christian in the first place.” The article was published April 13. She also gave an interview to Reuters and the Advocate, She lives in Nashville but does not attend church. Knapp told Advocate that she received an e-mail from a “young fan” asking if she was lesbian and then asking her to come out: “That would make me less of a lesbian. simpler.” Stith tells how to win over a gay man. “What I want to say to Jennifer and to those who may be facing her dilemma in the Christian church is that God does have a sexual standard,” says Stith. “It is based on His creative intent as articulated in both the Old and New Testaments. He did not set this standard to enslave us but to free us. When God forbids something He always has something better for us. Unfortunately, that concept is often lost in both the church and the world today. We all tend to trust our own instincts and desires more than God’s revealed will. No matter what our desires may be and how right and/or powerful they may seem, God’s desires for us must always take precedence. That may not bring instant gratification, but for both us and the Eternal Kingdom, the ultimate payoff will be far greater. “Knapp told Christian Today, she “absolutely” felt at times having to choose between her faith and her feelings.[E]So many people around me have made it clear that this is not an option for me, investing in one or the other – and for me choosing to do so would be a denial of my faith,” she said. speak. Knapp’s girlfriend also said her affection for women dates back to at least her college years. “Some people say, ‘You might want to renegotiate that,’ even though those relationships are not sexual. She added, “The struggle I went through with the church, admitting I was a human being, trying to live the spiritual life I was called to, in any way was ramshackle, broken. , frustrated that I always approach my faith. I still consider my hope to be a whole person, a man of love and grace. So it’s hard for me to say I struggled within myself, because I didn’t. I have struggled with others. I struggled with what that meant in my own faith. I struggled with how that perception of me would affect the way I felt about myself. “When asked if she would ‘get over those struggles,'” Knapp replied, “I don’t know. I am the happiest person I have ever been. “Knapp is the second big-name Christian artist in recent years” to debut”. Ray Boltz did so in 2008. “What I want to say,” Stith said, “is to the church, please, please, realize there are so many wounded and hurt people around us. Many of them may not be recognised. But they are there. Every week I hear the news about people who are struggling and scared. They are afraid to talk to their church leaders because of what they have heard. Some are just afraid of what will happen if their struggles are exposed. Instead of being defensive, let’s check our own hearts. “Is there anything we can learn from the critics? “We’ve lost too many Jennifers and Rays from our churches.” -30- Michael Fous is assistant editor of Baptist Press. Visit the Gay Ministries Task Force website at topqa.info. Read the full Jennifer Knapp interview at topqa.info/ct/article_print.html?id=87412.Read more: Brooke Payne Net Worth 2021, Age, Height, Weight, Biography, Wiki and Career Details Gender About the authorMichael Foust