Equipping, Empowering & Encouraging: Creating safe space for conversation about faith and sexuality within the Body of Christ, where all are welcome at the table of fellowship.
Sharing our stories isn’t a new concept. From the beginning we’ve known the power of telling stories – to teach a hard lesson, to create empathy, and to build community around common experiences, beliefs, and feelings. The 2018 “e3” Conference will feature stories from LGBTQ+ individuals, our families, and church leaders from across the country. Through plenary and breakout sessions, we’ll hear from people whose life experiences have much to teach us about the LGBTQ+ community. We’ll also learn from academic and ministerial scholars of biblical text who have devoted their lives to studying scripture and its application in the 21st century. Our families will share what it’s been like for them to wrestle with the conflict that often arises when a child comes out, and the feelings of isolation that often result.
But most of all, we’ll leave with tools and hearts full of renewed hope as we respond to one another with the love of Christ. We’ll feel equipped, empowered and encouraged to love our friends and family members with God’s unconditional, limitless love. And we’ll know beyond a doubt that we are not alone, but surrounded by family within the Body of Christ.
If you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community who’s looking for a place to belong, come to “e3” and you’ll find it. If you’re a parent or family member of someone who identifies as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender, please join us at “e3.” Are you a friend or ally? Please come and get involved with CenterPeace!
And if you’re a church leader, there’s no better place for you to come and learn from men and women you’ve trusted to examine scripture, to extend hospitality, to embrace those in your reach who long for spiritual community. Please come. Your presence will be a lasting encouragement.
"If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both."
I John 4:20 - 21
Start: Oct. 4
Registration from 6-7 pm
Conference Opening at 7 pm
Oct. 5
Dinner with Justin Lee 6 pm
End: Oct 6
Conference Hotel
Special rate of $98
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Dallas Northeast - Arboretum
214.340.0003
Only a couple blocks from Highland Oaks! Make reservations ASAP, as it's Texas/OU weekend and hotels throughout the metroplex fill up quickly! Click Here
Justin Lee
Author of Torn
As a teenager and young man, Justin Lee felt deeply torn. Nicknamed "God Boy" by his peers, he knew that he was called to a life in the evangelical Christian ministry. But Lee harbored a secret: He also knew that he was gay. In this groundbreaking book, Lee recalls the events--his coming out to his parents, his experiences with the "ex-gay" movement, and his in-depth study of the Bible--that led him, eventually, to self-acceptance.
But more than just a memoir, TORN provides insightful, practical guidance for all committed Christians who wonder how to relate to gay friends or family members--or who struggle with their own sexuality. Convinced that "in a culture that sees gays and Christians as enemies, gay Christians are in a unique position to bring peace," Lee demonstrates that people of faith on both sides of the debate can respect, learn from, and love one another.
Don McLaughlin
Author of Love First
Love First is not just a book to inspire more love; it's a revolutionary call to love better. "A terrible virus has spread across the planet and turned the human race into bloodthirsty monsters. Mankind's only hope for survival is . . .'' Originally part of the tagline for the sci-fi thriller I Am Legend, these lines describe the undercurrent of unrest and turbulence in our world. The virus we face is hate--an epidemic infecting social media, politics, neighborhoods, and homes. Communities of believers, which should be clinics with the cure, are instead suspected of being primary carriers of the virus.
But there is hope. Hate, even in its most nefarious forms, is no match for the love modeled by Jesus. Love is his cure for the sick and dying world. But not just any love. This is not just a book to inspire more love; it's a revolutionary call to love better. Historians, sociologists, and theologians agree that we are experiencing the most fundamental changes in global society in the last five hundred years. And while the church has a lofty vision and mighty power, we are disastrously unprepared. Love First presents an understandable, practical, and doable approach to loving others with such clarity and conviction that the world will truly know the God who loves us first.