On Preston Sprinkle and His Promotion of REVOICE

Preston Sprinkle seems to be upheld these days as a thoughtful, biblical “conversation partner” on issues of gender. He has a podcast called Theology in the Raw, and leads/hosts the so-called Center for Faith, Gender and Sexuality. Sprinkle is purported by himself and others to affirm the traditional, biblical design/definition for marriage, yet, if we deeply scrutinize his methods and connections, it leaves Christian listeners in murky, unclear waters.

This link shows the lined up speakers for Theology in the Raw’s hosted 2024 conference. Among other quite controversial speakers, Art Pereira is listed. This man is involved in the so-called Christian ministry REVOICE which according to the YouTube I link below, is aimed toward getting Presbyterians to re-think issues in this arena. I have listened to other talks that reference the idea of “Covenanted Friendships” as a “biblical option” for celibate, (gay) Christians, and I have possibly heard the term directly in one of the many interviews Preston Sprinkle has hosted. (Yes, it is in this talk, also listed at end.)

I cannot recall where I first encountered the term, but if one Googles as I show below, there are others writing about these aberrant ideas. And while I have not clicked/read any of these top three search results, I will place the three direct links for ease, if any reader wishes to read more for the patterns/ideology/sources of such teachings.

Again, I do not know if or to what degree any of these three links align with the main YouTube video at the end of this piece which I recommend the concerned Christian patiently and carefully listen to in full.

https://seedbed.com/building-a-theology-of-celibacy-and-friendship-for-the-church/

https://www.churchsociety.org/resource/covenanted-friendships/

https://spiritualfriendship.org/2015/09/15/love-covenant-and-friendship/

Next is my main focus of this piece–an invitation to continue awareness into current ideologies/aberrant voices in the Christian Church. I utilize this particular video not because I consider every comment/tone of the podcaster to be a proper response but because in general, he is picking up on the concerns one should have, biblically and socially, as he listens. I also selected this one because the entire podcast from the REVOICE website is included.

For those who may simply want to listen to it via its original sharing on REVOICE, I cannot locate it but instead, located this article Revoice Purges Their YouTube Channel. I will, however, link some other YouTube talks by Art Pereira, including an interview with him by Preston Sprinkle himself on Theology in the Raw. To be clear, my bigger issue expressed here is Preston Sprinkle’s connection to any and all of this. It leaves me feeling that he appears to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth on the topic and flirting with heresies and dancing about the boundaries of all sorts of destructive teachings, ideologies and even doctrines of demons. Basically, I believe Preston Sprinkle should garner more attention and scrutiny of what he actually believes and enables others to consider. While I acknowledge that at least on the surface, Sprinkle communicates that his goal is compassion, ministry, understanding and active listening (my paraphrases), one need rightly examine these methods/beliefs more closely.

This gender issue is too serious and too destructive for Christians/prominent Church Voices to speak with nebulous messaging–and especially, to enable in any way, shape or form that Christians to be advised by such associative (unbiblical or non-Christian) “cohorts” on the matter.