On July 25, 2024, Thomas Jay Oord was tried by the Church of the Nazarene for his views on LGBTQ+ matters. As part of his defense, he asked several people to testify on his behalf. Some could do so in person, others joined by Zoom. For a portion of Oord’s own defense, see his book My Defense at this link.

Here is Kara Hudson’s testimony at Oord’s trial…

Dear Regional Board of Discipline,

As a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, I am a First Responder for individuals who want to end their lives. I am also the Lead Clinician for an Intensive Outpatient Program at a community-based mental health agency in Nampa, Idaho. I am the daughter of Nazarene missionaries and served in the Nazarene church in many leadership positions for the first 37 years of my life.

I heard a phrase during my upbringing that one could be “so heavenly-minded they are no earthly good”. I suppose this is the reason I was asked to testify on behalf of Dr. Thomas Jay Oord.

I am honored to work with the invisible, the scapegoats, the poorest, the immigrants, and the most oppressed in our community. My entire profession is dedicated to saving the lives of people who initially wanted to end them, helping them discover meaning in being alive on this planet at this time.

Many of my clients are trying to survive the oppression, rejection, and ultimately abandonment by their families and church bodies, for many reasons. I recognize the value of their lives and how quickly they can end.

These lives of the disenfranchised of my community may not matter to you. They truly matter to me.

In the early church, Christians loved the disenfranchised—no matter who they were. They stayed behind during plagues to help the sick after all had fled the city. Early Christians risked their own lives. They cared for refugees, widows, the poor, and the lepers. They observed the oppression of the world and sought to aid in the healing of those who were the collateral damage of this social violence.

This trial is not about Dr. Thomas Jay Oord. This trial is about his desire to hear, understand, and love those oppressed by the Church of the Nazarene. Many, like me, are the children of the church.

We had no recourse, support, or assistance from the church as we were horrified at our self-discoveries. We initially despised these attributes because we were taught to do so. And, then, we had to come to terms with them, after losing all we once knew because of the church’s increasingly aggressive and abusive approaches towards us.

Dr. Thomas Jay Oord gave voice to us in the book, “Why the Church of the Nazarene Should be Fully LGBTQ+-Affirming”, which he edited with his daughter Alexa Oord. This wasn’t an act unbecoming of a minister. It was the act any Christian who could give voice to the voiceless should have taken. Then, the White Helmets, or the ministers who shared their biblical perspectives in this book, who stood against not loving these neighbors, were targeted for their LOVE.  

This trial would not be happening if Dr. Thomas Jay Oord, and other ministers, hadn’t expressed support for the children of the church who are LGBTQ+.  The starting point, however, is the church’s aggressive stance against any person in her sphere who is not straight.

In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was updated. It differed from the previous in its approach to sexual orientation and gender identity. Queerness was no longer considered a mental illness because the person only demonstrated a decompensation of choices, behaviors, and mental health when they were part of a rejecting community.

Thus, the community is the pathological determinant, not the sexual orientation or gender identity.

This is notable. Oppression is deadly. It leads the oppressed to decompensate mentally and physically. This is why it is being mentioned in this setting. LOVE does not lead to self-destruction.

Compared with gay and transgender young people who were not rejected by their parents, caregivers, and communities, highly rejected young people who are LGBTQ+ are:

• More than 8x as likely to have attempted suicide.
• Nearly 6x as likely to report high levels of depression.
• More than 3x as likely to use illegal drugs, and
• More than 3x as likely to be at high risk for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

These numbers matter. They are actual people.

The act of rejection by families and churches is the push that leads individuals to suicidality, drug addiction, and promiscuity.

These statistics and others can be found in the attached document by the Family Acceptance Project.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” and “Thou shalt not kill” of Christianity, yet appear to be disregarded as far as this knowledge goes.  They are clearly tied together. Where there is an absence of LOVE, we can’t survive.

Further, biblical perspectives about people have changed as science has helped us better understand them. For example, there are countless stories of demon-possessed people who, in all likelihood, suffered from schizophrenia. With new medications, the psychosis decreases, and their ability to manage a fairly normal life increases.

Our insight must increase, and our beliefs about one another must evolve as we learn more.

Pathologies require treatment, or the individual can decompensate–to the point of death. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorders, Eating Disorders, Gambling Disorders, and Depression all require treatment for the individual not to decompensate. Individuals can make unhealthy choices until they are treated and find ways to heal and better manage their lives.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are different because they are a genetic part of a person. Parents who are observant and attentive to their children may note these qualities in their children very early. We were born with our specifiers.

A person of any sexual orientation and gender identity can lead a healthy, loving life. Any person’s physical and mental health will be severely impacted by the rejection and malignment of their families and churches—with an increased possibility of death.

The theme is that we can be responsible for the suicidality and harmful choices a person makes against themselves because of how we treat them. Conversely, LOVE for our neighbors is life-giving. Therefore, churches can be responsible for the physical and mental decompensation of those they have disenfranchised or for the healing and well-being of its members in embracing them authentically.

Choosing oppression and rejection is Conduct Unbecoming of LOVE and profoundly impacts individuals’ lives. Oppressed persons are now required to find their own value apart from the Church of the Nazarene. Remaining in the church can be deadly if we weren’t born with the “right” genes.

Some may have found it easy to ignore people who disagree and treat them as objects. Seeing another as an object silences compassion and empathy. It easily disregards the pain one has caused another.  This is not LOVE.

Dr. Thomas Jay Oord was willing to listen, observe, and look the silenced individuals in the eyes. He loved his neighbors. He heard their/our message and researched to understand them/us better. This is LOVE. This is Conduct Becoming of a Minister.

I encourage you to challenge your protocols and processes in favor of LOVE and LIFE for your neighbor.

In the meantime, I will meet with my clients weekly and help them find LOVE for themselves and others apart from the Church of the Nazarene. She has not made herself available to help my clients heal. The Church of Nazarene has not attempted to be of “earthly good” in an area in which Dr. Thomas Jay Oord has been purposeful.

I am grateful for Dr. Thomas Jay Oord’s courageous work advocating for the oppressed. I believe his work has saved the lives of real people. They matter.

I thank you for your time,

Kara Hudson, LCPC