Breakout Sessions
Explore more than 20 breakouts, including 3 in Spanish!
**Watch this page for updates**
Nurturing LGBTQ Leadership in the Church: Reflections from Bakos Project Alumni
Amber Jamison, Ian Yue, Carlie Pagens, and John Michael Bagley
While the Church has expended significant energy on theological debates concerning sexual and gender minorities, much less attention has been given to the tremendous contributions that LGBTQ and intersex Christians make to the Church and society. This session will feature a panel of four Bakos Project alumni reflecting on how their Bakos experience has shaped their understanding of Christlike leadership. Named for the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8, Bakos Project was founded in 2023 as a CenterPeace-adjacent initiative aimed at equipping young Christian sexual and gender minorities to use their God-given gifts. The ten-month cohort program integrates community building, faith nurturance, and leadership development to help equip young adults to make a difference in the Body of Christ and for the common good. Come hear the exciting ways God is working in and through these young leaders.
Amber Jamison is a Bakos Project alum with a heart for creating communities of deep belonging where all can experience and wrestle with the radical grace of God. They are a pastor at Galveston Central United Methodist Church in Galveston, TX and a recent graduate of SMU Perkins School of Theology where they won awards in systematic theology and liturgical scholarship. In May they were commissioned a provisional deacon in the Texas Annual Conference of the UMC. Amber's interests are wide and varied, from the intersection of spirituality and recovery to cycling, LitRPG's, music, and the eradication of relational poverty among others.
Ian Yue is a professional facilitator and mediator working in the field of environmental collaboration and conflict resolution. Based in northern Delaware, he currently serves on the Vision Team at LifePath Church, where he helped spearhead initiatives to expand the church's local expression of racial justice and LGBTQIA+ inclusion. One of Ian's deepest passions is helping people lean into discipleship practices through Christian community. Most days, you'll find Ian running around a pickleball or volleyball court, donning scuba gear underwater, or seeking out live theater and cinema classics whenever possible.
Carlie Pagens is a therapist and trainer of therapists with a passion for working with youth and young adults. She currently works as Clinical Supervisor and Instructor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Carlie loves learning and reading and currently researches post-secondary student wellbeing as a PhD Candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. She also loves nature, sports, coaching (softball), gardening, and her cat. Having become a Christian in college, faith is central in her life.
John Michael Bagley is a New York native who moved to Chicago to attend Wheaton College and after graduating decided to make the city his home. John Michael earned a degree in sociology and now serves as a public school teacher, educating and mentoring 5th graders. He served on the worship team at Urban Village Church for five years before becoming the worship lead. John Michael comes from a musical family and his musical skills have been employed in a variety of settings including on the theatrical stage and for gospel ensembles. He has also been called upon to preach from the pulpit several times in his life.
Holding Space
Dr. Charles Kiser and Alison Noll
"Holding space" is a foundational practice of caring well for LGBTQ+ folks who are healing from trauma. In this session we’ll create an experience of holding space for healing using frameworks and tools we employ in The Healing Collective cohorts. Participants are welcome to engage in the experience as much or little as they wish. Afterwards we’ll debrief our experience and discuss the insights and learning that emerged. This conversation might be particularly helpful for those offering pastoral care, leading groups, or equipping others in trauma-informed care — anywhere safe space is needed for healing and growth.
Dr. Charles Kiser is a pastor, theologian, and trauma-informed coach. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Healing Collective, an organization that creates spaces for healing religious trauma, raising trauma awareness, and equipping in trauma-responsive spiritual care. Charles is the author of Becoming a Wounded Healer and coauthor of Trauma-Informed Evangelism: Cultivating Communities of Wounded Healers.
Alison Noll (MDiv, MSW, LMSW) is the Lead Pastor at River NYC (a post-evangelical church in Midtown Manhattan). Through The Healing Collective, Alison facilitates Empathetic Witness Cohorts designed to support individuals who have been harmed by religion. Alison’s pastoral work, years as a therapist in community-based mental health, and own experiences of pursuing healing as a trauma survivor, have convinced her that all people are meaning-makers and that empathetic witness is essential for healing and growth.
A Forged Weapon, A Called Remnant: Reclaiming What Was Lost
Kathy Baldock
In 1946, well-meaning Bible translators made an assumption that reshaped the church’s relationship with LGBTQ+ people for generations. God has always preserved a remnant for the hard work of restoration. Ephesians 3 says that the power at work within us can accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine. This session traces what was lost, how it is being recovered, and what your part in that restoration looks like.
Kathy Baldock is an LGBTQ+ advocate, founder of Canyonwalker Connections, author of Forging a Sacred Weapon: How a 1946 BIble Mistranslation Shifted Culture (2026), and one of the main researchers in the documentary 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture.
Becoming Open and Affirming
Rev. Timothy Peoples
Becoming open and affirming is an important milestone, but it isn't the finish line. Some in my own church ask, "Isn't that enough?" while many others are asking the more important question: "What's next?" In this session, we'll explore what it means to continue the work of inclusion beyond an affirming vote or statement. Together, we'll consider how we, both individually and as faith communities, can keep growing, learning, and leading so that our churches don't become complacent, but remain committed to creating spaces where LGBTQIA+ people are fully welcomed, celebrated, and empowered to thrive. Ensuring that inclusion is an ongoing practice rather than a completed project.
A native of Jones, Oklahoma, Timothy attended Adrian College where he received his B.A. in Religious Studies before earning his Master of Divinity degree from Yale University School of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, GA. Prior to his current role as Senior Pastor at Wilshire Baptist Church, Timothy served churches in Michigan, Connecticut, and North Carolina.
Conversations on Dating & Relationships for Men Who Love Men
Ben and Ed Campbell and Marty Baker
Join husbands Ben and Ed Campbell as they lead a heartfelt discussion on cultivating healthy dating relationships and nurturing Christian covenant commitments within the LGBTQ+ community. This session will explore the intersection of faith and love, providing practical insights and guidance for building meaningful connections. With a dedicated Q&A segment, participants will have the opportunity to engage deeply and honestly. This session is for men only who are gay, bisexual, trans or queer.
Ben Campbell has several years of ministry experience. After Bible college, he worked in church planting, youth ministry, and discipleship programs. He was also a Professor of intercultural studies. He lives with his husband Ed in Madison, Wisconsin, where they are active in their church. Ben has also been a mentor with Centerpeace’s Bakos Project since its launch in 2023.
Ewduar “Ed” Campbell has more than two decades of ministry experience, including church planting, prison ministry, and Christian education. Ed grew up on a coffee farm in Columbia and brings an international perspective to Bakos Project. He and his husband Ben are actively involved in their Madison, Wisconsin church, including a Spanish Bible study. Ed has been a mentor with Centerpeace’s Bakos Project since its launch in 2023.
Before becoming a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Marty Baker spent over 2 decades working with families. Originally holding a BA in Student/Family Ministry and an MA in Biblical Interpretation, in 2019 Marty decided to complete his MAMFT, with emphasis in LGBTQIA+ systems and religious trauma. Now, he runs Marty Baker Therapy, PLLC, assisting individuals, families, and partnerships all across Texas.
Looking Through the Lens of Gratitude: God's Power to Do Far Beyond What We Can Ask or Imagine As the Parent of a Trans Kid
Berty Quantz Walker and Terri Womack
Terri and Berty will share some of their own individual stories, reflecting on Christ's love and how this journey has exceeded far beyond what we could have asked for or imagined as the parent of a trans kid. They will have time for Q&A and welcome trans attendees in the session who are willing to share as well.
Berty Quantz Walker (she/her/hers) was a missionary kid when she was younger and now lives in St Petersburg, Florida. She has both a Trans son (Jordan 37) and a lesbian daughter (Heather 40). She is the founder of a private Facebook group for Parents of Faith whose kids identify anywhere under the Transgender umbrella, called Journey of Faith. She has worked at the VA as a nurse for over 20 years, and enjoys crafting, crochet, and sunsets.
Terri Womack (she/her) has been an advocate for the trans community since her #3 kiddo (son Alexander) came out to their family in 2017. She is a graduate of the Transmission Ministry Collective 2025 cohort. She is a lay leader at her church (Weatherly Heights Baptist Church) and will graduate from McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, with a Master of Theological Studies with an ethics concentration in Spring 2027. Terri and her husband Allen are both retired from the US Air Force and have been married for 38 years; they have four grown children, two grandchildren, and four cats. Terri is a Veterans Service Officer and works at a non-profit assisting Veterans in obtaining VA benefits. She loves teaching, swimming, reading, and apparently working and going to school!
The Journey to Wholeness and Authenticity: Coming Out Later
Dr. Charles Rix
In this breakout session, I trace my journey to embrace my queer identity through a maze of professional and ministerial responsibilities, family needs and losses, and both hospitable and inhospitable religious spaces. I hope to demonstrate the value of integrity, agency, and above all love for others in embracing who and how God created me to be. I will also share ways in which my queer personhood has been a gift and blessing to me in navigating some of my life's significant challenges.
Dr. Charles Rix, MFA, PhD, is a professor of biblical studies at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a justice oriented seminary in New Brunswick, NJ, in the New York City metro area. His academic work and publications focus on justice oriented readings of biblical texts drawing on philosophy and thought from post-Shoah/Holocaust reflection of sacred texts. His work embraces queer spaces in biblical texts and how those illuminate God's attention to our full humanity and need to care for one another. Dr. Rix is also a playwright whose short plays have been produced in New York City and Los Angels and focus social issues faced by queer and marginalized populations. He holds his PhD and M.Phil from the Drew Theological School, his MFA from Spalding University, his MA in Theology from New Brunswick Seminary, his MIM from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and his BA in Accounting from Abilene Christian University. He lives in New York City alongside his adult children and grandchildren and is a member of the Stamford Church of Christ in Stamford, Connecticut.
Loving God with Our Whole Selves: Queer Theology as a Task of Discipleship
Jason Oliver Evans
What does it mean for LGBTQ+ Christians and their allies to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds? Does reflection on Christian faith and its relation to gender and sexuality only involve deconstructing and disrupting traditional beliefs and practices? Or does it also involve reconstruction, even queer world-making? The purpose of this breakout session is to invite attendees to consider queer theological reflection as a task of Christian discipleship.
Jason Oliver Evans (he/him/his) serves as a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at Princeton Theological Seminary. Evans earned an MA and a PhD in religious studies from the University of Virginia. Previously, Evans earned a ThM from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, an MDiv from Duke University Divinity School, and a BS in speech communication from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Evans’ first monograph project, titled If God Be for Us: Christology in the Key of Black Queer Life, considers the person and work of Jesus Christ from a Black queer perspective. An ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches USA, Inc., Evans currently serves as an associate minister at St. Paul’s Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Evans enjoys cooking, baking, reading cookbooks and food magazines, and binge-watching cooking shows in his spare time.
Called Beyond the Wounds: How God Redeems Our Pain and Calls Us Into Purpose
Amie Scott
Trauma is real. Rejection is real. Abuse, loss, and spiritual wounds leave lasting scars, but they do not define who we are, nor do they determine the calling God has placed on our lives. In this session, Amie Tyler shares her journey from surviving profound trauma to founding "Deeper Waters International", serving as a pastor, and leading mission work among Dalit communities in India and in Pakistan, where she has partnered in efforts to free families from bonded slavery while sharing the hope of the gospel.
Through biblical teaching and personal testimony, you'll discover that God doesn't wait until we're "healed enough" before calling us. He meets us in our brokenness, transforms our pain into purpose, and invites us to participate in His work of reconciliation and hope. Whether you're wrestling with your past, questioning your calling, or wondering if God can still use your story, this session will encourage you to step forward in faith and embrace the life God has prepared for you.
Amie Scott is the Executive Director of Access Community Care, a Christian speaker, recording artist, and longtime advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She is a pastor with a Bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies, Amie is passionate about helping people reconcile faith, authenticity, and belonging. Drawing from her own journey through trauma, church exclusion, and healing, she speaks with honesty, compassion, and a deep commitment to creating spaces where everyone is seen, valued, and loved. Through her music, public speaking, and advocacy, Amie challenges harmful narratives while pointing people toward hope, grace, and genuine inclusion.
Making a Difference for LGBTQ People in Non-Affirming Churches
Dr. Paul and Robin Spurlock with Gil and Gail Vollmering
One of our hopes is simple: to make the next experience better than the one before. In this workshop, parents of adult gay children will share personal stories and lessons learned from LGBTQ people, their families, and allies within non-affirming churches. Together, we'll explore practical, hopeful ways to reduce unnecessary hurt, build trust, increase empathy and help non-affirming churches reflect Christ more faithfully and become healthier communities for everyone. Expect to take home a practical framework for conversations, best practices, and concrete next steps for encouraging your church culture.
Dr. Paul (MDiv, MA Apologetics, DMin) and Robin (MA Christian Ed) Spurlock presently are on staff at a large evangelical church. Paul is the Global Outreach and Adult Education Pastor and Robin is the Local Outreach Director. Both have been in various full-time ministry positions for over 40 years each. They have three adult daughters, one son-in-law, and they welcomed their first grandchild this year. Their middle daughter came out to them in 2021 and like for many parents, it has been a journey of soul-searching, theological rethinking, unconditional love, and joy.
As the father of a gay son and a former church elder, Gil and his wife, Gail, spent nearly 15 years walking the often-complex path between faith, family, and sexuality. Today, Gil is Board Chair of CenterPeace, and he and Gail are dedicated to fostering understanding, support, and pastoral care for LGBTQ+ individuals, their families, and their allies. Together, they work to help create faith communities where people can experience grace, belonging, and a better journey than those who came before them.
Not Broken to Begin With: Overturning the "Theology of Brokenness" and Reclaiming Who God Created You To Be
Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez
What happens when the faith that was supposed to save you almost destroys you? Drawing from his memoir Conversion Therapy Dropout, Tim Schraeder Rodriguez shares his journey through conversion therapy and the long road back to himself. Leaving a harmful religious environment doesn’t have to mean losing your faith. Sometimes it’s how you finally find it.
Timothy Schraeder Rodriguez spent almost a decade in gay conversion therapy—all while working behind the scenes at some of the most influential Evangelical Christian megachurches. After embracing his identity as a gay Christian and stepping away from church work, he co-founded Church Clarity, an organization that helps queer people find affirming faith communities. A writer and commentator focused on the intersection of faith, sexuality, and belonging, Tim has contributed to TIME, Oprah Daily, Harper’s Bazaar, Religion News Service, and The Advocate. His unique perspective and personal story have drawn international coverage from ABC News, BBC Newshour, NBC, VICE, CBC, and The Washington Post. He was a 2026 GLAAD Media Award nominee for Outstanding Journalism. Born in the Midwest, he now calls New York City home, where he continues his work as a writer, digital strategist, and advocate for queer people of faith.
Faith in Emerging Adulthood
Falon Barton
Faith in emerging adulthood (18-29 years old) is marked by identity exploration, doubt, and big questions about life and faith. This stage of life is a recipe for complicated, and often challenging, relationships between young adults and their churches, families, and God. For LGBTQ+ young adults, the journey of faith can feel extra complicated. Join us as we explore the reasons young adults sometimes leave church or abandon faith altogether, seek to better understand and receive the prophetic voice of LGBTQ+ young adults, and find hope for the future of the church in young adults. If you are a young adult or care about the faith of young adults, you are welcome!
Falon Barton has worked as a church minister for college students and families, has been an adjunct professor in religion and Bible at three different Christian universities, and has done missionary work in both the U.S. and abroad. She has her Doctor of Ministry from the Hazelip School of Theology at Lipscomb University, as well as an MA in Religion and BAs in Journalism and Hispanic Studies from Pepperdine University.
Spectrums of Sexuality: How Bisexuality and Asexuality Expand Our Notions of Love
Cana Moore with Joey Thurmond
Transgender and nonbinary friends have taught us much about gender as a spectrum. However, orientation, attraction, and romantic affection can manifest in a multiplicity of ways, too! Join us as we uplift bisexual and asexual stories that not only challenge our categories of love, but also invite us deeper into the mysteries of love from and for our God.
Cana Moore (she/her) is an ordained minister in the Disciples of Christ currently working with the United Church of Canada and a Bakos Project Alum. She identifies as a bisexual woman and believes deeply in the contributions of queer people in religious spaces. She hopes to bring a wider perspective to the spaces in which she speaks and desires to listen to those whose perspectives might be historically marginalized or suppressed.
Joey Thurmond has been a writer and editor on pop culture and Christianity for websites like Game Informer, Sojourners, and Love Thy Nerd. He has a BA in communication and an MA in English as well. In his spare time, he dabbles in story writing and poetry, plays videogames, and talks for hours about Bionicle or Star Wars lore. Joey is also an avid advocate for the furry community, which he's been in for a decade as of this month!
Working Together: Two Callings, One Covenant
Cindy and Marsha Stevens-Pino
This breakout session will explore how a marriage thrives when two people are called to very different kinds of ministry. Drawing from decades together, Marsha and Cindy will explore how love, mutual respect, and a shared covenant have allowed each of them to flourish in their own calling while strengthening the life they’ve built together. You will learn about Marsha’s music ministry and emerging artist training program as well as Cindy’s local and international mission work. There will be a time for questions and dialog to learn how much more God can do with what you bring to the table.
Cindy Stevens-Pino is a ministry leader and global missionary working as a volunteer with churches and organizations that are dedicated to being fully inclusive. Her work has taken her to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Uganda, and communities across the United States.
Through medical clinics, school repairs and building projects, teaching, disaster relief, and hands‑on care in some of the world’s most vulnerable places, Cindy has witnessed how God equips ordinary people to do extraordinary things. With years of experience in underserved communities in the U.S. and abroad Cindy understands the importance of God’s divine empowerment and encourages all of us to claim our place in God’s ongoing work of healing and justice. Working together in ministry with her wife, Marsha Stevens-Pino, for 25 years, Cindy attributes much of her energy toward mission work to the strength and support they share as they strive to answer the call.
Marsha Stevens-Pino is a singer, songwriter, and founder of Balm Ministries whose music and ministry have somehow stretched from the Jesus Movement to the LGBTQ+ Christian community—and over more than five decades without anyone successfully convincing her to retire. Often called the “mother of contemporary Christian music,” she has spent the past 40 years creating music and spaces of hope for people who have been told they must choose between their faith and who they are. Marsha lives in Florida with her wife, Cindy, and continues to write, teach, perform, and have a passion for sharing that the News about Jesus is still Good.
An Anatomy of Religious Harm: Finding Language, Finding Hope
Joel Hollier (Joel is offering two breakout sessions)
How do we heal from something we can’t yet name? For many LGBTQIA+ Christians, the wounds inflicted by churches, leaders, and faith communities are made even heavier by the absence of language to describe what has happened. We sense, deep in our bodies, that something is profoundly amiss, yet we struggle to articulate it to loved ones, to therapists, and often even to ourselves. The silence around these experiences becomes its own kind of harm. Over the past decade there has been a rapid and encouraging growth in scholarship and lived-experience wisdom around church hurt, religious harm, and spiritual trauma. This research is giving us new categories, clearer terminology, and more compassionate frameworks for understanding experiences that once felt unspeakable. In this breakout session, Dr Joel Hollier will unpack these emerging insights, offering participants language that illuminates their stories rather than diminishes them. Together we will explore how naming our experiences is the first courageous step toward healing, and how understanding the anatomy of harm can unlock new pathways to restoration, agency, and hope. This will be a reflective space where we seek more healing, more clarity, and more connection, both with ourselves and with one another.
More than Conquerors: Reclaiming Faith and Reimagining Community
LGBTQ Christians often carry deep, complex wounds from religious environments that claimed to offer grace yet delivered exclusion, silencing, and shame. Together, we are called to name those experiences honestly, recognising the theological, interpersonal, and systemic harms that have shaped many people’s spiritual journeys, while refusing to allow harm to be the final word. Drawing on emerging research, trauma-informed practice, and the lived wisdom of LGBTQ people of faith, this presentation begins by exploring what authentic healing looks like: reclaiming spiritual agency, rediscovering a safe and life-giving relationship with God, forming affirming community, and embracing lament, courage, and vulnerability as sacred practices. Yet healing is not only personal. This session proposes a bold theological imagination in which LGBTQ Christians are seeking more than acceptance. We hold unique gifts the wider Church urgently needs: resilience, creativity, chosen family, and a radical commitment to love. It reframes LGBTQ faith as a prophetic lens through which the Church can rediscover its inclusive, liberating centre in Jesus. This session invites participants to see themselves not only as survivors of religious harm but as story-bearers whose healing can ignite communal transformation. Our wounds do not disqualify us! They equip us to reimagine a more hopeful, more honest, and more just Christianity.
Joel Hollier is a research fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia where his research explores the intersection of mental health, LGBTQ+ identities, and religion and spirituality. He was a co-founder of New City Church, Sydney, and has degrees in Social Work and Theology, alongside a PhD in Behavioural Science.
Who else is presenting a breakout?
More workshop descriptions coming soon for the following guests:
Justin Lee
Justin Lee is an internationally known author and speaker who has been bridging cultural divides for 25 years. His book Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate helped many Christians better understand and empathize with LGBTQ people. His latest book, Talking Across the Divide, offers strategies for handling tough issues in a polarized world. Justin currently serves as the executive director of Nuance Ministries, where he works with churches and Christian groups from a variety of perspectives to help them show the love of Jesus in the midst of disagreements without compromising their integrity and values.
Chelsea Hopkins, Jace Gillis, and Alex Garza
Chelsea Hopkins is a staff member at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, TX, where she serves as executive assistant to the senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Timothy Peoples. Prior to her time at Wilshire, Chelsea taught middle school band and orchestra for 6 years after earning a bachelor’s degree in music from Texas Tech University. She is passionate about learning, teaching, and sharing her story with others as a normal woman who happens to be transgender. She has contributed writing to Baptist News Global. Chelsea strives to live by John 13:34-35, summed up by the tattoo on her wrist: “love one another.”
Jace Gillis grew up in the church and was deeply influenced by the Black women in his life who helped nurture his relationship with Jesus. Throughout, he experienced many different faith traditions, but it was in the United Methodist Church that his faith truly grew. The United Methodist Church was also the place that embraced him with loving arms as he began his transition in his early teens. Jace earned a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning and Policy. He is passionate about community, mutual aid, and economics in relation to learning how we can help people live better lives and build stronger communities. Outside of work and faith, Jace enjoys playing video games, reading, watching sci-fi shows, and working out.
Alex Garza is an active and faithful member at Ecclesia Houston, a church community that serves the city of Houston and engages the global issues of poverty, injustice, and water accessibility. She works full time as a Document Control Specialist for Amtrak, and she is also a passionate photographer and portraitist. Alex has been behind the camera since 2005, joyfully lending her craft to her church community, nonprofits, and beyond.
Janet Kellogg Ray
Janet Kellogg Ray is an enthusiastic science educator and communicator and is in her twenty-first year of teaching at the University of North Texas. Raised a creationist, Janet is a Jesus-follower who accepts evolution. She loves to explain evolution to questioners, doubters, and those who just want to know more about the science of origins. Janet is the author of Fish with Feet: Human Evolution and the Image of God, The God of Monkey Science, and Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark? Janet and her husband Mark have two adult kids and live in the Dallas area where they manage a herd of mutts, including a 40 pound puppy named Jolene.
Elizabeth Black
Elizabeth Black is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kaleidoscope, an LGBTQ+ mission organization based in New York City that creates contextual and tangible opportunities for LGBTQ+ people to engage with the Gospel. An evangelist, theologian, and minister, she holds a Master’s in Contextual Theology fromAll Nations Christian College, where her research focused on BIPOC transgender theologies of kinship and LGBTQ+ mission. Elizabeth is a published author and contributor to Christlike Acceptance Across Deep Difference: Constructive Conversations on Sexuality and Gender (2024).
Bill White
Bill White co-pastors a church that is about one third LGBTQ folks. He and his co-pastor started Small Church Big Table to coach parents and pastors on having conversations in families and churches where there is theological diversity about LGBTQ questions. Bill and his son Timothy have been featured in the New York Times and on Oprah’s Book Club for their conversations around these matters.
Don McLaughlin
Dr. Don McLaughlin has served as the preaching minister for the North Atlanta Church of Christ in Atlanta, Georgia since 1997. Don and his wife Susan have been married 42 years and are blessed with five adult children and four granddaughters. Their ministry is focused on facilitating gospel-centered restoration where relationships have been fractured. They have actively served with the LGTBQ+ community since 2001. Don’s academic work focuses on developing strategies and environments that inspire and equip people for meaningful intercultural relationships. He is the author of Love First: Ending Hate Before It’s Too Late and Heaven in the Real World.
Beyond the Certificate: Putting LGBTQ+ Ministry into Practice
Jonathan Kimball, Emily Morran, Amanda Pence, Ron Parker, Lisa Fuller, Anne Jones, Elizabeth Stafford
What happens after completing CenterPeace's Certificate in LGBTQ Ministry? Join a panel of recent certificate graduates as they share how the program shaped their ministries and equipped them to better serve LGBTQ+ people, their families, and their faith communities with greater confidence, compassion, and hope. Through stories of real-world ministry, you'll hear how graduates have applied what they learned in churches, campus ministries, support groups, and community outreach—and how the certificate gave them practical tools and a stronger foundation for that work. Whether you're considering the certificate or simply looking for practical ideas, you'll leave with inspiration and tools you can begin using in your own community.
Jonathan Kimball (he/him) is a professor of electrical & computer engineering at Missouri S&T and a father of two trans kids. In 2020, he co-founded LGBTQ+ Rolla, which has grown from just two people meeting in a park to hosting an annual Pride with over 800 attendees, monthly events, and weekly small group gatherings in their community center that opened in 2025. Jonathan has previously served as commissioned ruling elder of First Presbyterian Church of Rolla and continues to preach regularly. He also co-leads Sacred Paths, a progressive campus ministry.
Emily Morran is a lay leader in the body of Christ. She grew up in non-denominational, evangelical churches in Indiana, but now calls Edgewood Church in Atlanta, Georgia her immediate church family. She sought out the CenterPeace ministry certificate program to become better prepared to serve and love the growing LGBTQ+ population in her church and do her part in being a minister of reconciliation to any who have experienced spiritual harm or exclusion. She is an educator in all spaces, mother of a fierce, wise and amazing teenager, and life-long partner to her highschool sweetheart, Levi.
Amanda Pence is a Bible Teacher and 2SLGBTQIA+ Advocate. She graduated with highest honors from Biola University Talbot School of Theology with an M.A. Bible Exposition (’24). She holds a Certificate in LGBTQ Ministry from CenterPeace (’26). Her specialty is exegetical and hermeneutical methodology, and she advocates for full queer affirmation and inclusion in the church. She has taught breakouts for QCF and Small Church, Big Table. Her essay, “Vindicating Bathsheba,” was a winner of CBE International’s student paper competition (’22), and it was published in the Priscilla Papers, an academic journal. She is launching a ministry for LGBTQ+ & Questioning college students and young adults beginning fall ’26. Learn more at AmandaPence.com.
Ron Parker is Oklahoma's first licensed Episcopal Lay Evangelist and recently completed the CenterPeace Certificate in LGBTQ+ Ministry. He serves at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Claremore, Oklahoma and is currently in formation to become an ordained deacon. Ron is passionate about helping LGBTQ+ people and their families experience healing, belonging, and reconciliation with God and the Church through listening, authentic relationships, and compassionate presence. He is also active in campus ministry and community outreach, working to build communities where every person is welcomed with dignity, love, and respect.
Lisa Fuller is a lover of people, words, music, and life in general. In her professional life, she is a mental health therapist and yoga instructor. In her personal life, she is a wife to Jason, and also a mom, bonus mom, mom-in-law and MayMay to a big, blended family of 9 young adults and 2 sweet grandbabies. Her journey to becoming an affirming believer began when her oldest daughter Rebecca came out over 20 years ago.
Anne Jones is a follower of Jesus who is passionate about creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, welcomed, and loved. She has been married to her husband, Nathaniel, for 25 years and is the proud mama of Natalie (23) and Levi (20). Anne is a singer, encourager, organizer, and lifelong lover of people and meaningful conversations.
Elizabeth Stafford was thrilled to be part of the inaugural cohort for the CenterPeace LGBTQ Ministry program. She found that having the opportunity to sit under outstanding teachers and learning with a team of curious and passionate faith leaders has been a truly transformational experience. She looks forward to walking alongside members of the LGBTQ+ community, continuing to learn and serve. Elizabeth has been a part of launching Grace House Community Church in DFW, a church founded on Jesus’ teaching that ALL are loved, expected and welcome in God’s family and that ALL are given gifts to serve. She is also passionate about helping create spaces where wrestling with the tough questions about faith isn’t just tolerated but celebrated. Elizabeth is kept busy by 4 four-legged family members all named after players from her beloved Boston Red Sox. In her off-time she is an avid reader, loves to travel and cook and has been known to bust out her sourdough starter to bake bread for communion celebrations.