Gay Christian Movement Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement

The Gay Christian Movement (GCM) was founded in 1976 as an ecumenical organisation with the aim of encouraging fellowship, friendship and support amongst gay Christians, helping the Church to re-examine its understanding of human sexuality, encouraging the witness of Christian faith within the gay community and maintaining links with other gay Christian groups in Britain and elsewhere. Peter Ellers and Giles Hibbert were elected President and Vice-President, and by 1977 membership had reached 300. The first Bulletin of the Gay Christian Movement appeared in May 1976, and was renamed Gay Christian in 1977. The leadership of GCM was altered in 1977 following an extraordinary general meeting which criticised the input of GCM to a BBC programme entitled The Lord is my shepherd and he knows I am gay. Motions to replace the President with a Chairperson and to have collective leadership were defeated, but the meeting refused to elect another President. Several groups have been created within the GCM, including the Womens' Group (1978), the Evangelical Fellowship (1979) and a Young Gay Christian Group (1982). There are also a number of local GCM groups, some of which were established in the very first year of its existence. GCM has been active in commenting upon and providing information for reports by several denominations on human sexuality, and holds regular conferences and seminars. It became known as the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) in 1987. In 1988, the LGCM set up a charitable arm known as the Institute for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality. A chronology of the first 10 years of the GCM can be found in Gay Christian, 39, Feb 1986.