Roy Clements

Roy Clements (born 1946 in London) is a British author and former Christian minister. He was a leading figure within Britain's Evangelical Christian movement for more than two decades until he resigned from his pastoral ministry in 1999, having revealed that he is gay. cite news
first = John
last = Benton
title = Roy Clements Walks Out
url = http://www.e-n.org.uk/2904-Roy-Clements-walks-out.htm
publisher = Evangelicals Now
date = 1999-11
accessdate = 2008-08-28 ] [cite news
first = John
last = Benton
title = The Commentary - Roy Clements
url = http://www.e-n.org.uk/2903-The-Commentary.htm
publisher = Evangelicals Now
date = 1999-11
accessdate = 2008-08-28 ] [cite news
first = Gary
last = Benfold
title = When a good man falls
url = http://www.e-n.org.uk/2905-When-a-good-man-falls.htm
publisher = Evangelicals Now
date = 1999-11
accessdate = 2008-08-28 ] [cite news
first = Victoria
last = Combe
title = Preacher quits over his relationship with male worshipper
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1999/09/30/nbap30.html
publisher = Daily Telegraph
date = 1999-09-30
accessdate = 2008-08-28 ]

Biography

Roy Clements grew up in the East End of London and earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, before working for UCCF (University Colleges Christian Fellowship) in Nairobi and serving as pastor of Nairobi Baptist Church in Kenya.cite web
url = http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8075.htm
title = The Roy Clements Story
accessdate = 2007-08-28
publisher = Christian Herald, quoted by John Mark Ministries] He returned to the UK in 1979 when he became pastor of Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge, where he developed a highly successful ministry to students. [cite web
url = http://www.eden-cambridge.org/history/index.shtml
title = History Of Eden Baptist Church
accessdate = 2007-08-28
last = Beynon
first = Graham
publisher = Eden Baptist Church Website
quote = This approach, along with his exceptional preaching gifts, continued to grow the church, and particularly the involvement with the university, so that today, over 200 students regularly attend Eden] Over a period of some twenty years, he gained a reputation within the international Christian movement as an accomplished preacher and teacher. Until 1999 he served on the boards of a number of leading evangelical organisations, including the management council of the Evangelical Alliance, which represents more than a million British Christians across 30 denominations. His ministry within British evangelicalism ended in 1999 after he left his wife and began a relationship with another man. Since then, Clements suggests he has become a significant new voice within the British gay Christian movement.

List of works

Theology books and biblical commentaries

Since publicly acknowledging his sexuality in 1999, his books have become difficult to obtain. [cite news
first = Stephen
last = Bates
title = No room in the church: archbishop finds himself cast out by evangelicals
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1045967,00.html
publisher = The Guardian
date = 2003-09-20
accessdate = 2007-08-28
quote = It took nearly 20 years for Mr Clements to come out as gay. When he did so four years ago, he was immediately cast out. His books and tapes were unceremoniously removed from church bookshops. ] [cite web
url = http://paulwhiting.blogspot.com/2005/09/excellent-writing-on-homosexuality-in.html
title = Excellent writing on homosexuality in the Christian blogsphere
date = 2005-09-01
accessdate = 2007-08-28
publisher = Paul Whiting
quote = After this news came out, Intervarsity Press and Crossway Books in England immediately stopped publishing his books and withdrew their back catalog of his titles. Most Christian retail outlets in the UK followed suit by refusing to sell his books. ] [cite web
url = http://www.royclements.co.uk/publications00.htm
title = Publications
accessdate = 2007-08-28
quote= In 1999, he publicly acknowledged for the first time his homosexual orientation. As a result, some publishers and bookshops have refused to carry his books any longer, even though they carry the endorsement of leading Christian theologians and preachers
publisher = Roy Clements' web site]
* A Sting in the Tale (IVP), expositions from the parables of Luke
* Practising Faith in a Pagan World (IVP), expositions from Daniel/Ezekiel
* Masterplan (IVP)
* No Longer Slaves (IVP), expositions from Galatians
* Turning the World Upside Down (IVP), expositions from Acts 1-15
* People Who Made History (IVP), expositions from Judges/Ruth
* Songs of Experience (Focus/Baker), expositions from selected Psalms
* The Strength of Weakness (Focus/Baker), expositions from II Corinthians
* Introducing Jesus (Kingsway), expositions from the Gospel of John
* From Head to Heart (Kingsway), expositions from the First Letter of John
* Word and Spirit (UCCF), an examination of the Bible and the charismatic gift of prophecy
* Turning Points (UCCF), an overview of cultural trends
* Why I Believe (Regent College Publishing)
* Rescue: God's Promise to Save (Focus), with Peter Lewis and Greg Haslam, a short exploration of the five points of Calvinism

Jubilee Centre papers

Clements published a number of papers with Cambridge Papers, a non-profit quarterly publication of the Jubilee Centre, a Cambridge-based centre for contemporary theological reflection which he helped to found. These papers include: "Can Tolerance become the Enemy of Christian Freedom?" (an examination of pluralism in two papers); "Officiously to Keep Alive" (a two-part examination of euthanasia); "Demons and the Mind" (a two-part study of mental illness in the Bible); and "Expository Preaching in a Postmodern World". [cite web
url = http://www.royclements.co.uk/information02.htm
title = Publication List
accessdate = 2007-08-28
publisher = Roy Clements' web site]

Notes

Other References

* [http://www.courage.org.uk/articles/articles.asp?CID=4 Roy Clements Archive on the Courage.org.uk website]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20041028000915/http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1046004,00.html Editorial in Guardian] (link via archive server - NB may work intermittently)
* [http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:akKahDj_tC4J:www.ecwr.org/thecable/02summer.pdf+evangelical+alliance+roy+clements&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=21 Clements's correspondence with Dr John Stott about his theological analysis of homosexuality]
* [http://www.ecinc.org/Records/rec_fall99.htm Evangelicals Concerned report of Clements's outing]

External links

* [http://www.gaychristian.net/audio/clements.php Recent sermons by Clements]
* [http://www.eden-cambridge.org/ Eden Baptist Church, Cambridge]
* [http://www.eauk.org/ Evangelical Alliance UK]
* [http://www.nairobibaptist.org/ Nairobi Baptist Church]

ee also

* Homosexuality and Christianity