Bishop Max Berryessa

Max Berryessa has a long record of church service having been Bishop twice and having been in six other bishoprics.  Max currently serves as a sealer in the Provo Temple.  He served for ten years on the important church correlation committee. Max, an Ed.D. is Professor Emeritus of Education at Brigham Young University.

This page contains relevant experience and advice reported by a church
 leader

  

Although I served in eight different bishoprics,   including twice as a Bishop with three of these experiences in student wards,  I was not at the time tuned into gay and lesbian concerns.  I believe there 
"My own awakening to these concerns began 12 years ago when my son, Guy, told his mother and me of his same sex attraction."
were gays in these wards, but none ever came forward to speak to me on the  issue.  My own awakening to these concerns began 12 years ago when my son, Guy, told his mother and me of his same sex attraction.  I do have some  impressions about the possibility of change based on what I know about Guy  and the kind of person he is.

The Church meant everything to Guy in his early years and he looked forward  to being called to serve the Lord as a dedicated missionary. When his call  came he served in Sweden and upon his return he taught Swedish to  missionaries in the MTC.

As a child and later as a young man it seemed I could never  get close to him  emotionally.  He explained, after coming out to his mother and me several  years after his mission, that the reason he rejected my affection and my  attempts at closeness was because society had taught him that because of the  way he was he was not worthy of being loved.  Since that disclosure day, we  have developed a closeness and loving relationship that even exceeds that of  our other children.

He knew he was somehow different from his boyhood friends even at a very  young age.  He hoped that
He hoped that being  faithful to the teachings of the Savior and serving a mission he would be able to change
being  faithful to the teachings of the Savior and serving a mission he would be able to change. After years of hoping for the desired change, he finally  accepted the fact that the Lord made him the way he was.  In his desire to do  everything right according to Gospel principles during this long period of striving for the desired change, he has developed into one of the most  Christlike persons I know.

Following Guy's coming out to us and after years of meeting so many fine young and older LDS gay people through our affiliation with Family  Fellowship, and learning of the trials they face in their lives because of  their sexual orientation, I am convinced that they did not choose to be the  way they are nor are they able to change this orientation just like they are not  able to change the color of their eyes.