Identity
Interview—Jide Macaulay, House of Rainbow Rev., Jide Macaulay (inset) was recently in Kenya. He talks with Identity Magazine. Q: Do introduce yourself to our readers I am Rowland Jide Macaulay, I am Nigerian born in London United Kingdom, I trained as a Lawyer in the UK and worked with the Crown Prosecution Service for 12 years, I am one of five children, I also trained as a theologian primarily ordained in 1998, I am currently progressing my education on liberation and MA in Pastoral Theology. I enjoy poetry and mild form of exercise. Q: How did you find you trip to Kenya early this year? Anything made an impression? My trip to Kenya in May 2011 was my first visit to East Africa and I found the cities and towns easy to navigate, I spent my time in Nairobi and Mombasa, the people are extremely friendly, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting people and especially to see the wonderful work of the LGBT community. I was very impressed by the culture, history and the generosity of the people of Kenya. I also fell in love with Kenyan tea. Q: How has the experience been of you living in a foreign country, despised back home and leading a ministry that some consider an insult to mainstream churches and beliefs? I do not see myself as living in a foreign country, I was born in the UK and I believe it is my home, I identify with Nigeria and thus very proud of my dual citizenship, this gives me the opportunity to address some of the problem and bring an understanding that is safe, inclusive and liberating for LGBT people and other marginalized groups in the society. There are problems in the UK too such as racism, economic inequality and there is no where that does not have a major human problem, but we must continue to work with government and civil society to address the imbalance and find human solution. House Of Rainbow Fellowship may be seen as an insult and I will not be surprise, Jesus ministry was an insult to the Jews when he walked on earth, John the Baptist was insulted and abused daily and later beheaded for his beliefs, I believe where there are strong oppositions, we must find strong religious people raising their voices against such, Jesus cares about people and he spent his time with “sinner” and outcast, this should not be different if we are to take our Christian faith more seriously.
The Lord is my Shepherd and he knows I'm gay. Troy Perry
House Of Rainbow is a bible believing ministry inclusive and welcoming to all persons regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, we believe that our differences is a blessing and we learn from each other. We have come to believe that this is the time that some religious truths are shared, Ephesians 4:14-15a, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love”. Q: From your interactions with the gays and lesbians who attended the Sunday service, what are your thoughts? When gays and lesbians attend Sunday devotion, this is important and an opportunity to express themselves to God in the assembly of other Christians, we must be careful of segregation or creating an exclusive group, we must endeavour to create dialogue with the wider Christian family for inclusion, LGBT exclusion will not be the first in the history of the Church, Black people, women and children suffered violence by the church, but now there is recognition of restoration and reconciliation, such as all age service which include children and some denomination now ordain women as priest. The important thing for Christians to note in the message of Christ is to know that there are no strangers in the sight of God, we are members of one body, one family in Christ, when we receive healing or a blessing from God, when we show ourselves in the communities that excludes us, giving thanks to God, this is to the glory of God, in the words of Paul to the Galatians, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus”(3:28). Continued on Page 18 Page 11