THE world's oldest and largest ministry to "those struggling with same-sex attraction", Exodus International, based in Orlando, Florida, is to close, it has announced. The message from the organisation's board of directors came on Wednesday of last week, less than a day after its president, Alan Chambers (right), released a statement apologising to the "LGBTQ community" (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) for the "pain and hurt" caused by its actions.

Mr Chambers said that he was "deeply sorry" that some gay people had "spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatised parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn't stand up to people publicly 'on my side' who called you names like sodomite - or worse. . . I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.

"More than anything, I am sorry that so many have interpreted this religious rejection by Christians as God's rejection. I am profoundly sorry that many have walked away from their faith and that some have chosen to end their lives. For the rest of my life I will proclaim nothing but the whole truth of the Gospel, one of grace, mercy and open invitation to all to enter into an inseverable relationship with almighty God."

He had personally caused "trauma" he wrote, during the "several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions". Mr Chambers said that he could not apologise for his "deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex", but would "exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them".

Exodus was founded in 1976 as a coali-tion of organisations "helping men and women surrender their sexual struggles to the Lordship of Jesus Christ". It grew to number 260 ministries, professional counsellors, and churches in the United States and Canada, some of which offered reparative therapy. Last year, Mr Chambers said that 99.9 per cent of conversion-therapy participants did not experience any change to their sexuality. and apologised for the previous Exodus slogan: "Change is possible."

On Monday, the Revd Peter Ould, a commentator on issues of the Church and sexual identity, who has permission to officiate in the diocese of Canterbury, said that the news from the United States was, in some sense, "no news at all". Mr Ould describes himself on his website as "post-gay".

"Since Alan Chambers changed the composition of the board and the by-laws of Exodus International, he has not represented anybody but himself for the last two or three years," he said. "He does not really represent the member ministries, which are going to continue to operate."

Mr Ould pointed to the existence of the Restored Hope Network, established last year by a former member of Exodus International. Last week, its board issued a statement describing the end of Exodus International as "like the unnecessary death of a dear friend", but also the "not-unexpected outcome of a cheap grace theology that severs the confession of Christ as Savior from the confession of Christ as Lord".

Mr Ould suggested that more research into sexual-orientation-change therapies and other pastoral practices was likely to be commissioned, investigating claims both about their effectiveness and their potential for harm.