by Amy Phoon (on 2 June 2026)
Reflection on IQACC
The Amplify conference has always been something that is significant to us, as it was a gathering of LGBTIQ+ people from different countries. International Queer Alliance Christian Conference (IQACC) was held in 2026 at the same venue where Amplify 2018 was. IQACC marks Tong Kwong Church's 30th anniversary. It marks 8 years after the last Amplify Conference, when Covid 19 occurred, and people had to practice social distancing. Amplify Conferences was started in 2012 in Hong Kong with a gathering of 300 people from parts of Asia. It has been 14 years, and there have been many changes since the last gathering.
The first Conference held in 2012 was impactful as it created the opportunity for LGBTIQ people from different parts of Asia to come together to worship God and be equipped for ministry from the various workshops over the 3-day session. Thus, this was the seed that was planted in the hearts of the people that caused the different ministries to grow in various parts of Asia.
In the IQACC conference in 2026, new AI technology was used, making translation to other languages more efficient. In the past, human translators needed to translate manually, with the rotation of volunteers, but with an AI tool, different languages, such as English is translated to other languages simultaneously. Thus, there is no time delay for translating to Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, etc. With the new Pentecost App that Gary Chan had developed, whatever is spoken is translated into different languages and can be viewed through the app according to the languages selected. Although AI translation was sometimes inaccurate, it was able to translate the overall meaning of the spoken text for the audience.
The IQACC conference was held over 3 days from 1st May to 3rd May 2026, with invited speakers from Asia and the 1946 Team. The film (1946) by Rocky was about how the word “homosexual” got mistranslated and the journey of the people (Ed and Kathy) who went to search the archives.
The main highlight of the conference was the workshops by Kathy Baldock and the 1946 Film Production Team (Ed and Rocky). The conference began Day 1 with the workshop – “How Bible Translation Shaped the Gap between LGBTQ+ Communities and Faith” by Kathy Baldock. She shared about the research she did to document how the bible translations changed over the years for the word “homosexual”. This was interesting for most lay leaders, as most do not question how the bible gets translated from the original text. Most people who attended the workshop by Kathy were Pastors or Lay Leaders from their own churches.
The conference was attended by delegates from countries such as Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Korea, etc. In the morning sessions, Leaders or Pastors from different countries shared about the difficulties they faced in their churches and their ministries. Each country shared about its own context and the development of LGBT-affirming ministries. Culture and the religions in the countries often influence how LGBT people are accepted or rejected by their communities. Hearing the sharing from other countries, we get to know we are at different stages of growth; some of us are still in the infancy stage, while some are already at the advanced stage of fighting for LGBT rights and same-sex marriages.
The three stories that were impactful to me were from South Korea, Japan, and Thailand. A Pastor (Lee Dong Wan) was being excommunicated just because he blessed an LGBT couple. This led to some church leaders in South Korea coming out to support LGBT individuals, risking their pastoral careers. The story from Japan about Reverend Reina, who came out as a lesbian pastor in Japan. Her story tells of the struggles she went through and how she continues to support the community from the church. Being a female, it was difficult to be recognized by the conservative church and to sustain a livelihood as a Pastor. Although we are from different countries and cultures, our struggles are similar, having conservative church leaders persecuting the pastors who are allies to LGBT, and LGBT people being rejected from the church, etc. The reparative therapy (conversion therapy) is still used today, although Exodus International has shut down the program and acknowledged its failure in converting anyone to be straight. Rainbow Stream from Thailand was started by a straight man whose friend had committed suicide, as he was gay, lead him to start this fellowship as he recognized the needs in the LGBT community.
The Worship sessions in the morning and evenings were enjoyable as we ended each day with sharing from Pastors from different churches on a particular song or bible passage that ministered to them during their difficult times. There was solidarity as we sang together in our different languages, and AI translation bridges the gap through simultaneous translation.
As I listen to the stories of our fellow brothers and sisters share about the difficulties of their ministries, it is a reminder not to take for granted the developments in our individual churches. Free Community Church Singapore has been around for 24 years, since 2002; it was a gradual change from people being homophobic to being inclusive. To get Christian leaders to be aware and inclusive of other gender minorities is a long journey. People’s mindsets need to change to allow more diverse voices to be heard.
The oppression of the past seems to be a lost memory when we move to different stages of growth, but we need to slow down to journey with our fellowship siblings to bring them along in this journey of reconciliation. The physical gathering of the conference in Taipei (IQACC) was a testimony that people still hunger for connection, meeting of needs, and sharing of their struggles.
Technology is advancing too quickly and creating isolation among people. But we can use it to create a bridge to connect people together. Although separated by distance and time, people can connect through online video calls, chats, or messages, etc. We might not solve all the problems we are facing, but we know that we are not alone, and we can reach out in times of need. IQACC mustn't end with just the hype of a 3-day gathering, but it should act as a fire starter to foster relationships with people from different parts of the world and help each other grow in this journey.