“There are no rocks being thrown from this corner,” says Dominic Steele on a special edition this week of his Pastor’s Heart podcast. Sydney Anglicanism’s leading podcaster is speaking about Sam Allberry, a strong advocate for celibacy among LGBT Christian has been “revealed to have engaged in an inappropriate relationship with an adult man,” according to a statement from Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee. (The statement was first reported here.)
Steele refers to rocks, an allusion to Jesus’ call to men who had caught a woman in adultery, “let those without sin cast the first stone.”
After an investigation by the elders of the non-denominational church, Allberry resigned as a pastor. Allberry has been a high-profile and prolific author and conference speaker, and appeared at Melbourne’s Belgrave heights mens convention in 2025, and the Katoomba Christian Convention’s “Basecamp” men’s meetings in 2024. In Australia, those speaking opportunities meant that Allberry has been platformed by key conservative evangelical bodies.
The Immanuel elders state that “while the relationship did not go as far as it could have, Sam’s conduct constituted a serious breach of trust and a failure to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.”
Some of Allberry’s platforms, such as The Gospel Coalition, immediately scrubbed his content. But locally, the “With All Due Respect” podcast’s Megan Powell du Toit posted that they have not removed their interview. But perhaps less gracefully, LGBTQIA advocate Anthony Venn Brown put up a meme, “Sam Allberry Gay Christian and preacher of celibacy WASN’T”
Allberry endorsed what is called “Side B theology” for same sex attracted or gay people. This is based on the metaphor of a vinyl record. Side A in this case is LGBTQIA Christians engaging in sexual activity. Side B is the idea that same sex attracted (Allberry’s terminology) Christians should be celibate. UPDATE: In a comment on my facebook Dani Treweek notes that Allberry while advocating celibacy differed from the main advocates of Side B Theology and does not fit the label. He would use the term “same sex attracted” rather than “gay.”
This relates to a doctrine called concupiscence – an unusual word for a practical problem – the lingering inclination to sin that remains in a Christian’s human nature as a consequence of original sin.
The Sydney Anglican Doctrine Commission report, signed by Moore College Principal Mark Thompson, “The Doctrine of Concupisence and the and its Relevance to the Experience of Same Sex Attraction,” is a detailed treatment of the topic and can be downloaded here.
Referring to a commentary by US Baptist theologian Thomas Schreiner, the Doctrine Commission report points to a key bible passage. “Recent work on Romans 7 in the context of chapters 5–8 suggests that Paul is describing a transfer of the believer from one dominion to another through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. At the same time, an ongoing solidarity with Adam is also a reality to be reckoned with (cf. 6:12, 19). ‘The body is the place of ἐπιθυμίαι [desires] and, therefore, remains a constant, willing ally of sin. And it is characterised as weak “flesh”, lacking the self-generative capacity for obedience.’ Thus, Romans 7 establishes an anthropological phenomenon where believers lack the ability to fully carry out the new life in Christ because of their continuing solidarity with Adam (cf. 5:12-21). He explains: ‘The incongruity, a contrast between the condition intrinsic to believers and the new life possessed extrinsically in Christ, is the context in which we are able to situate ἐγώ’s [I’s]
confession of this condition in Romans 7:14-25.’ The passage is about the condition of all human beings who experience this fleshiness, but this passage is told by a Christian. Thus, it is best understood as describing the Christian’s experience of being fallen. However, as Paul will go on to explain in Romans 8, this is not the whole of Christian experience.”
Thompson and the commission cite Article IX (of the Anglican 39 Articles of Religion), suggesting that concupiscence is sinful. In speaking ing of original sin, Article XI continues, “And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated, whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek phronema sarkos (which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire of the flesh), is not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptised, yet the Apostle doth confess that concupiscence and lust hath itself the nature of sin.”
The Doctrine Commission concludes, “Scripture is clear that same-sex sexual desire and same-sex sexual behaviour are contrary to God’s will and contrary to created nature. Given the corrupting effects
of original sin, as well as the damage caused by actual sin (both our own and others’), it is not surprising that some of us experience such desires and are tempted to engage in such behaviours.
“However, those who have a propensity to be sexually attracted to members of their own sex are not, by mere virtue of this, actively and consistently perpetuating sin.”
Critics of Chaste gay Christians perhaps most notably the former Lesbian, Rosaria Butterfield, now married to a Presbyterian minister, tend towards the belief that Christian LGBT persons should be ex-gay, and some are. Butterfield says she is happily a heterosexual person.
Chaste gay Christians have a much harder road. They have not lost their same sex desires, enduring concupiscence though they might be.
The rest of us should be aware that we are all subject to concupiscence. It manifests itself in all sorts of sin, for example, greed, a desire for power over others, and selfishness. We are all Romans 7 Christians.
I have replaced “Side B” Christians with “chaste gay Christians” at several points in this story after considerable discussion on my FB page.