Are Exodus Ministries Flakey?

by Bob Davies

Executive Director Exodus International of North America

A survey published on the Internet says that 70 percent of Exodus agencies have failed. An accompanying analysis by the author implies that most–if not all–of these ministries ceased because the "ex-gay" director returned to active homosexuality.

This implication is highly misleading. Of the 147 defunct ministries listed:

• 25 of them (17%) were never part of Exodus in the first place.
• 27 (18%) are still active (but not a current Exodus referral).
• 5 (3%) simply changed their name (and remained active).
• 11 (7%) changed locations (and remained active).
• 33 (22%) dissolved for unknown reasons (most date back to the earliest days of Exodus; we have no records on why they ceased operations).
• 37 (25%) dissolved for reasons not related to homosexuality (death of director, job transfer of director, financial problems, burnout/loss of interest by director, director became involved in another type of ministry, etc.)
• 13 (9%) dissolved because the director returned to active homosexuality.

(Note: figures add up to more than 100% because several ministries fit into more than one category.)

In summary, 13 former Exodus ministries dissolved because the director returned to active homosexuality. Five of these 13 ministries collapsed prior to 1979. Only eight Exodus ministries have dissolved in the past 18 years due to a director's return to homosexuality–a gay related failure rate of 5%.


The internet survey was conducted by Ron Brasgalla, a member of Saint Matthew's Lutheran Church in North Hollywood. It overviewed the existence of ex-gay ministries dating back to 1976. The main source of information was previous issues of the Exodus Referral List; other sources were Exodus newsletter and books on ex-gay ministry.

Copyright © 1997 Bob Davies. All rights reserved.