'Ex-Gay' Ministry Leader Finds ECUSA Bishop's Alcohol Problem Unsurprising
by Bill Fancher and Jenni Parker
February 16, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Christian ministry leader and former homosexual Stephen Bennett says he isn't surprised that Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the Anglican Communion's first openly homosexual priest to be consecrated as a bishop, has checked himself into an alcohol rehabilitation facility.
The 58-year-old Robinson was confirmed as the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, a move that generated heated debate and ongoing schism both in the Episcopal Church USA and in the worldwide Anglican Communion. According to a Wikipedia article, the Kentucky-born bishop married a woman in 1972, but publicly acknowledged his homosexuality after having two daughters with his wife, whom he divorced in 1986.
In a recent e-mail message to his community, Robinson acknowledged that he has been struggling with an increasing dependence on alcohol for some time. The Episcopal leader, who once likened his personal struggles to those faced by Jesus Christ, reportedly entered an in-patient treatment center for alcoholism on February 1 at the urging of his daughters, colleagues, and his current homosexual partner, Mark Andrews.
Stephen Bennett, who left the homosexual lifestyle when he was 28 years old, is now at age 42 happily married to his wife of 12 years, Irene, and has a son and a daughter with her. Today, as founder and director of Stephen Bennett Ministries (SBM) and national host of Straight Talk Radio -- a half-hour weekday pro-family radio broadcast -- he provides outspoken, passionate insights and commentary on homosexuality in an effort to reveal the truth about the dangers of that lifestyle and combat the "gay" misinformation campaign.
In response to reports of Robinson's entry into the alcohol treatment facility, Bennett comments, "A man who divorced his wife, broke up his family, is an avowed open homosexual who's living with a partner, and now he is getting treatment for alcohol abuse -- it's heartbreaking. My heart goes out to this man. My prayers go out to this man."
However, the former homosexual says he was not surprised at the news of the Episcopal bishop's problems with alcoholism, as homosexual men often turn to alcohol and drugs to fight off a life of pain.
"Alcohol and drug abuse is part of a lot of individuals who are involved in the homosexual lifestyle," Bennett asserts, "and it's also part of individuals who are involved in heterosexual promiscuity and other things. Alcohol is a way to alleviate the pain that a person is going through. It's a way to cover up things."
A Prayer for Bishop Robinson
The pro-family ministry leader says his prayer for Gene Robinson is "that God will just pierce this man's heart." As a Christian evangelist to the 'gay' and lesbian community, Bennett says he feels a deep compassion and burden for homosexual men and women, and he understands better than many other people the trials and concerns that they face.
Through his advocacy, the SBM founder and spokesman tries to communicate both to homosexuals and to the general public that no one is born homosexual and that, through the power of Christ, freedom from that lifestyle is attainable. Having left that lifestyle himself 12 years ago, he attests that he is "completely free of homosexual thoughts, actions and desires and completely happy" as the heterosexual man God created him to be.
"Change is possible," Bennett says to those struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction, "and life on the 'other side' is more beautiful than you could have ever imagined." His sincere hope for Robinson and others like him is that they would come to know and experience that truth.
