Where did the idea to close come from?

From the moment of my hiring, I've said that success for me would look like Exodus going out of business because the church was doing its job, whether that's helping people with a story like mine or people with a story like yours. I never thought in my lifetime that I would see this, and yet I did. About 18 months ago, we revisited this. There were four options we saw. One was to stay the same, which wasn't really an option. The second was to rebrand, which became not an option. The third was to modify Exodus, which is what we tried to do, and I think we did some good. The fourth was to shut down Exodus. For many, many months now, that's something I knew would happen. In my heart and mind, I've been clearly hearing God say it's time for this to be done. The good that could have been done is done.

When you say that, people are going hear that you think Exodus was successful, that you think it was a ministry that did good.

For some people, it was. Exodus saved my life. I was vulnerable and I had no other place to go. I didn't know what the gay community was or how to find it. Exodus was a place that rescued me. It was a safe haven for this little kid of faith who needed an option. While there is undeniable trauma that has happened for some, the fact of the matter is, for others it has not been traumatic. That will always be part of the story.

Do you get why so many people are still so angry at Exodus?

Yes. It's been traumatic for many people. It's been horrific. And it's not just Exodus. It's the church. It's a religious system that has taught us how to be contrary to the heart of Christ, to treat people who are sinners in ways that God himself wouldn't ever treat them. He sent Jesus. He loves us. He wants amazing things for us, and he wouldn't treat us in the ways that religion has taught us to treat people. I hear and understand why people are hurting and why they are in pain.

What parts of Exodus's teaching do you renounce?

What I renounce: the whole gay-to-straight process. That the goal is changing your sexual orientation, which we realized isn't something that happens. That that's what makes you acceptable to God. And that gay people couldn't ever be acceptable to God.

So what changed for you that got you to this place?

Realizing that the deepest part of the Exodus narrative is really a religious church narrative has been the biggest change. We are a church that has mostly been about waging war and battle. But I believe God has called us to be a people of peace. I've realized he can love a gay person or a lesbian person the same as anyone. For me as a Christian, those aren't boundaries or barriers, and I don't believe they are barriers for God. We felt it was absolutely necessary to close the ministry of Exodus and do what people who have been hurt are asking us to do: make amends in a way that makes a difference.