Paul Williams, who led the conservative church planting organization Orchard Group for 20 years, has publicly come out as a transgender woman named Paula Stone Williams.  Williams began his work with Orchard Group in 1979 and became the president and chairman of the group in 1989, driven by a “simple statement of faith.” “These convictions have been passed down by each generation of leaders. While this is certainly not an exhaustive list, we continue to affirm the

following: The inspiration and authority of the whole Bible (Old and New Testament) as the revelation of God by the Holy Spirit,” the organization declares in part on their website. Behind closed doors, however, Paul was beginning to embrace a different life as Paula. Paul’s 40-year-old son, Jonathan Williams, pastor of Forefront Brooklyn, a new church started with help from Orchard Group, told The New York Times that his father told him in December 2012, a year before he retired, that he wanted to live life as a woman.  READ MORE

 


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