Is your church a safe place for LGBTQ kids? Is the kind of Christianity you participate in welcoming or exclusionary? Do you have a spiritual instinct that maybe God is more accepting than many Christians? Me, too.
A 2024 PRRI survey found that 60% of Americans under 30 who have left Christianity have cited the church’s teachings about LGBTQ people as the central reason.
A 2020 study in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion found that LGBTQ people are twice as likely as their heterosexual peers to leave the church.
A 2023 joint study by the UCLA School of Law and Utah State found that nearly two-thirds of LGBTQ people raised Christian have left their faith.
We’ve taught that God is love, and we’ve acted like God is hateful and exclusionary. If you have the spiritual intuition that there must be a better way, I want to help.
This ten-week class offers a thoughtful, in-depth exploration of a Jesus-centered path to respectful and loving inclusion of LGBTQ people, as well as Biblically-aligned support for full affirmation. We’ll start with expectation-setting and personal stories, creating an environment that’s safe for exploration. Key arguments for the traditionalist perspective will be evaluated, including an in-depth study of the key scriptures used to justify exclusion, including the historical, linguistic, and cultural contexts of those scriptures. The course will conclude with a Gospel-centered argument for full inclusion and affirmation. This is an essential conversation for the church in our era, and I would like to invite you to be part of this with me.
There will be suggested outside reading and video-watching that will be offered for those who have the time and inclination to go deeper.
There is a cost for the class, but I will not let finances be an obstacle for anyone to attend. So, if you’re not able to afford the full cost or even the equity pricing, just let me know, and our church will sponsor you.
Class size is limited to make sure there is time and space for conversation, so if you want to participate, please register right away. (And—I’m being serious—if you want to attend, and can’t afford it, just email me. I want you there.)
10 Weeks / Thursdays, 7 - 8:30 PM / Starting September 4th, 2025.
Regular Price - $99
Equity Price - $25 (This rate is to provide financial accessibility. Use Coupon code: EQUITY-AFFIRMATION-25
Bridge City Member Access - Free (You will receive your discount code via church email.)
Each class will include lecture, discussion, and group interaction. Taught in-person with Hybrid Zoom access. Expect college-level material and interaction, with 30-60 minutes of homework weekly.
Taught by Marc Alan Schelske / Co-Sponsored by Bridge City Community Church & The Apprenticeship Lab.