Anthony Venn-Brown

Anthony Venn-Brown (1951 - ) is a former evangelist and minister in the Australian Assemblies of God. He was a popular preacher at all the major churches of the Assemblies of God in Australia including Hillsong and also preached overseas. In 1990 Anthony became the first Pentecostal to be appointed to the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism in Australia. Anthony was the original founder of Youth Alive in NSW. and was also the Founder and Director of "Every Believer Evangelism."

Anthony Venn-Brown was forced to make a public confession and resign as a minister in 1991 after he came out as a gay man. In 2004 Anthony published his autobiography. A Life of Unlearning: A journey to find the truth. The book detailed his struggle to reconcile his homosexuality with his Christian beliefs and won the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Business Association Literary award in 2004. The book was revised and updated in 2007. Anthony currently attends Hillsong Waterloo.

Preferring to be known as a gay ambassador instead of gay activist, Anthony Venn-Brown is now a representative and passionate advocate of gay and lesbian people. He seeks to create an informed, intelligent yet resepctful dialogue about the issues of same sex orientation within the Christian and particularly Pentecostal community.

Freedom 2 B(e)
Anthony is Co-founder and Convenor of Freedom 2 B[e] which is a network for GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) people from  Pentecostal and Charismatic backgrounds. The stated mission of Freedom 2 B(e) is to create a global network of GLBTIQ people from Pentecostal and Charismatic backgrounds that helps them resolve issues of faith and sexuality and creates understanding and acceptance.

In 2007 Freedom 2 B(e) made history when gay Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians and their supporters marched in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the first time