Orlando – After being on the market since December 2012, the Orlando headquarters of Exodus International, Inc. have been sold to a private entity.
The sale comes after the June 2013 announcement that the world’s largest “ex-gay” organization, which has spent nearly 40 years providing “reparative” therapy to thousands of Christian gays seeking to live a “righteous” life as a heterosexual, would be shut down. Former Exodus president Alan Chambers publicly apologized to the gay community for any damages the controversial ministry may have caused.
Chambers said he and a partner he’s been working with – he did not want to name this associate – closed on the building Sept. 23, after Exodus had owned and operated out of it for five years.
“It’s the end of the era,” Chambers said. “There’s lots of emotion in it. I spent lots of personal money, time and energy into having to work very hard to do all that we did. It’s emotional to close the doors, sell property and assets.”
Chambers said they’re still selling off assets.
“Our goal is to have it closed by the end of this year but [Exodus is] not operating in the meantime,” he said. “For me, my focus is really on closing exodus and getting that all neat and tidy and finished so that we can move on and figure out what life is like after that.”
When the news of the closure and apology broke, Chambers discussed plans for a new, more positive ministry. That plan is still in the works and the new ministry would be called “Speak. Love.”
“I think for so many people of faith there comes a crossroads when sexuality is in the picture and I think many churches don’t know how to navigate faith and sexuality,” Chambers said. “Our desire is to see people treated fairly and loved and families not broken apart.”
He said many people feel like they have to make a choice between their faith and their sexuality, and he’d like to help churches navigate that, so people don’t feel pressured to leave their faith.
“We desire to see if we can help make a difference and foster conversation and make relationships a priority and do better in the church than we’ve done in the past,” Chambers said.
