In what could also be a legal precedent, a gay man has been awarded a five-figure sum in damages by a church after claiming to experience emotional harm and distress brought on by ‘conversion therapy’.
Matthew Drapper, 37, was a volunteer at St Thomas Philadelphia church in Sheffield. In 2014 he attended an “Encounter God Weekend”, during which he says he was told that “sexual impurity” had allowed demons access to his body.
He claims that a married couple who were prayer leaders attempted to perform an “exorcism” on him.
The attempt, nonetheless, was apparently unsuccessful because it did not turn him away from homosexuality, resulted in him leaving Christianity. He says it even left him feeling suicidal.
Speaking to The Times, Drapper said, “Looking back it looks like something out of a horror movie — for somebody to be standing over you saying they will see the demons leaving your body is sort of terrifying. But when you find yourself deeply tied into the church, as I used to be at the moment, it is simple to imagine anything they let you know.”
Two years after the incident Drapper left the church, and in 2019 he submitted a proper grievance.
The church initially responded by saying there was “no evidence to substantiate” Drapper’s claims. Drapper responded by taking the problem up with the Diocese of Sheffield, who commissioned an independent investigation by the charity Barnado’s.
Last yr the charity concluded that Drapper’s version of events was accurate.
“From the evidence available to us it’s our view that the session took place as described by [Drapper] and prayers were administered with the intention of fixing his sexual identity,” it said.
Following the review, Drapper made a claim against St Thomas Philadelphia church, reaching an out-of-court settlement that resulted in him receiving a five-figure sum in damages.
St Thomas Philadelphia church said in an announcement that the settlement was “made specifically in recognition of [ … ] failings in how his 2019 safeguarding grievance was handled”. It denies engaging in conversion therapy.
It said, “St Thomas Philadelphia takes safeguarding, pastoral care, and spiritual wellbeing extremely seriously. The church at all times maintained that evidence that conversion therapy happened was unsubstantiated reasonably than ever denying it happened.
“However, we recognise that Matthew’s formal grievance in 2019 was not managed well by the church and so the church was not in an informed position to make this claim.
“We regret the shortcomings in that process, including the shortage of a correct investigation and failure to interact directly with Matthew or key individuals involved to be able to obtain the needed evidence. These failings meant the grievance was not handled in keeping with the standards expected of a safeguarding response, and for this, we’re sorry.”
It continued, “We don’t practise or support so-called ‘conversion therapy,’ and we reject any coercive or controlling use of prayer. We also need to affirm that St Thomas Philadelphia welcomes all people.
“We are a various church community, and while as a church we hold to a standard understanding of Christian teaching on sexuality, we’re committed to walking along with grace humility and love.
“We acknowledge that some people, including Matthew, may disagree with our theology. We respect that, and we imagine everyone should give you the chance to make informed decisions in regards to the communities they engage with. We affirm the dignity and value of each individual as made within the image of God, and we grieve where people have been hurt by the Church.”
The case is prone to be utilized by campaigners who’re in search of to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’. Advocates for a ban say they need to guard people from abuse, nonetheless opponents say that cases of abuse are extremely rare and that existing law already criminalises harmful practices.
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