Instagram posts from the Propel Women tour spur backlash and lose her spot at an Answers in Genesis event.
A year ago this week, Jackie Hill Perry released her first book, Gay Girl, Good God. In her writing and speaking, Perry has shared her insights on faith and her testimony as a former lesbian in evangelical spaces like The Gospel Coalition, Desiring God, and the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission—and faced some backlash.
But a different kind of controversy arose recently when she participated in a recent conference for Propel Women, a ministry founded by Christine Caine, alongside Pentecostal leaders including those from Bethel Music.
As a result, Perry has been forced to defend, explain, and clarify her position on working with those from other theological traditions, including some who ascribe to false teachings. Her affiliation with the women at the Propel event also lost her an upcoming speaking slot.
In late August, Perry was on the lineup for Propel’s Activate 2019 conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, alongside Caine, Lisa Harper, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and others, with musicians from Bethel Music leading worship. She posted a video to her Instagram stories with Jenn Johnson, co-founder of Bethel Music and worship pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California.
Perry and Johnson were laughing, heads together, as Perry praised Johnson as a friend and a woman with “all the Holy Spirit.” That was enough for her to start hearing from followers.
As CT reported in a 2016 cover story, critics of Bethel often take issue with the church’s belief in the continued work of apostles and prophets—a tenet of the New Apostolic Reformation movement—as well as the claims of healings and other miracles.
Others on the lineup come out of the Word of Faith or prosperity gospel movement, …