Sanctuary is fully LGBTQ Inclusive.
In January 2016, we became fully LGBTQ inclusive which means that Sanctuary is a church community without any restrictions at any level for people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer.
Practically, this means the following:
> Pastors at Sanctuary will happily officiate weddings for gay or lesbian couples.
> Ordination at Sanctuary is open to any individual whom God calls regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
> LGBTQ members and attenders regularly serve in a variety of roles in the church including serving on the Financial Board, preaching, teaching in the Kids Wing, leading worship, and hosting small groups.
Hear more of our history on this podcast hosted by Rebecca Farlow, James Farlow, and Justin Lee.
LISTEN to Katie Imborek’s Celebration of National Coming Out Day.
Sanctuary member Lonnie Matthews shares some of her own story, starting at 07:30 in the video below.
More on Sanctuary’s approach and history:
Sanctuary member and physician at UIHC’s LGBTQ Clinic, Dr. Katie Imborek, preached in celebration of National Coming Out Day on Oct. 13, 2019.
Senior Pastor Adey Wassink preached in January, 2016 to publicly announce our adoption of full inclusion. You can listen to that teaching on our website or podcast.
Katie Imborek also preached on Jesus’ Justice for LGBTQ People.
One of our Adjunct Sunday Preachers, Chris McMillan, preached on The Gifts of Queer Theology as part of our God, Gender, & Human Sexuality teaching series.
Following the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Sanctuary facilitated a gathering to help people process and grieve, and a podcast was made to share about that gathering.
Books on LGBTQ Inclusion and church
A Letter to My Congregation by Ken Wilson
Changing Our Mind by David Gushee
Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians by Austen Hartke
Sex and the Single Savior by Dale Martin
God and the Gay Christian by Matthew Vines
Bible, Gender, Sexuality by James Brownson
Sexuality in the New Testament by William Loader
Torn by Justin Lee
Sex Difference In Christian Theology by Megan DeFranza
Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality by Jack Rogers
God & Gender
Executive Pastor David BG led a Zoom Seminar on God and Gender in Feb., 2022. You can watch an edited version of the seminar below.
Main Takeaways
Ideas of gender are socially constructed and very complicated.
God has no gender. God is all genders.
The Bible includes the full range of masculine and feminine images for God.
Feminine images of God have been used throughout Christian history.