GCN Conference: Standing on Holy Ground
I had the opportunity to travel to Houston for my third Gay Christian Network Conference this past week and it was an amazing experience once again. This one was particularly special for me as two close friends attended their first conference and of course I got to see old friends as well.
I had a great talk with Misty Irons on Saturday night and we spoke about the conferences, our families, and how she almost made it through her entire keynote speech without crying :) She attends nearly every year and asked me to remind her why I came to GCN conferences.
My unselfish answer, I told her, was that I am there to support the many LGBT friends in my life and at the conference, and there is clearly truth in that. But I admitted to her that the main reason is far more selfish: nothing in my Christian faith strengthens, encourages, and challenges me like hearing the stories and testimonies of those who identify as LGBT Christians.
There is unbelievable power in the story of those who have constantly been attacked by the so-called “church” and those who profess to be “Christians” - being told they can’t be LGBT and Christians, that God hates them, or mocking them for their faith.
A true faith is one that is firm in the heart of the believer because of their own experience and belief, rather than what they have been told. It stands up in the face of evil, in the face of opposition and hatred, and in the face of rejection because God is greater than all of that.
This is an incredible group of people who have seen the worst of U.S. “Christianity” and have been able to retain, or regain, faith in God in spite of everything they have been through. One young lesbian woman attending her first conference shared that she felt like she was in a room full of unicorns. “I was told that you don’t exist, yet here you are!”
To hear the stories, even with all the pain and suffering, is uplifting because those sharing them have committed to being who they really are and, in their own way and time, understanding better than most that they are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14).
One of the young men sharing his story said he was taking off his shoes because he was “standing on holy ground.” That is exactly how I feel every time I attend a GCN Conference and more so there than anywhere else I have ever been in my life, like I am truly standing on holy ground.