CenterPeace Conference

By Elizabeth Marie

November 3-5 2022, I attended CenterPeace “A Place at the Table” conference in Dallas Texas. According to the organizations website:

“Since 2006, CenterPeace has been helping churches, schools, and families all over the world have conversations about faith and sexuality in a more Christ-like way. We provide a place to belong for LGBTQ+ people, and we welcome grace-filled dialogue and respectful disagreement with all who come to the table, acknowledging Jesus as the CenterPeace of our existence.”

Reconciling my faith with my feelings of womanhood has always been a struggle. My faith has always been an important aspect of who I am. My faith taught me that little seven-year-old who was caught trying to sneak my mother’s Playtex open bottom girdle back into her room was naughty. I never knew why I wanted to be a girl or had a name for it. I did know that wearing my sister’s clothes I found in the hamper during bath time felt “righter” than the boy clothes I was made to wear. I did not necessarily hate being a boy, just would have preferred being a girl.

Around 2016 I began to have a crisis of faith. Looking out at how a segment of the faith community hated us and wielded their political power to erase us, did not jive with what I felt that Christianity should practice. The fact that church participation has been steadily declining due to what the church is preaching does not match the real life experiences and interactions of many people.

I have always been an avid reader and during the pandemic lockdown, Kindle became a window of learning. So many authors writing on LGBTQ+ inclusion and affirmation into the church. Not just LGBTQ+ authors, but straight cisgendered authors as well.

About a year ago I did a search on YouTube for Transgender and Christian. One of the many videos that came up was for the Reformation Project. The Reformation project is an organization started by Matthew Vines. According to their website:

“Our vision is of a global church that honors Scripture and fully affirms LGBTQ people. All of our work is grounded in our three core values: our love for God, our love for the Bible, and our love for the church.”

Through their website I learned that they were promoting a conference in Dallas, Texas with the Center Peace organization. Dallas is a nine-hour drive from where I live, so I made the decision to attend.

From the moment I first entered Wilshire Baptist Church on Thursday evening I felt loved and accepted for who I am. While I was waiting for a mix-up with my badge, a volunteer named Jen came over and introduced herself to me. She shared her story and asked me mine. Jen became my go-to friend when I needed help with anything. That was only one of many such experiences.

The collection of keynote speakers was excellent. Even more so were the break out sessions. Sessions on Spiritual community for LGBTQ+, Responding to Spiritual Trauma, and How to Become More Welcoming are just a few examples.

Friday during lunch, Jen organized a group of us to eat our sack lunches in a room away from the hustle and bustle. It was a wonderful time of sharing. Sitting in a circle simply enjoying one another’s company, laughing, talking and sharing stories. No matter where we were in the LGBTQ+ spectrum in am always amazed at the things we share in our histories.

Saturday afternoon after the conference finished I was invited to lunch with a group that was literally half my age. Of the group three were trans (myself included) and four were lesbians. I was so interesting to hear the viewpoint from those youngsters and how interested they were to hear how it was for someone dealing with things many years before any of them were born.

Saturday evening a whole group of us met at a Mexican restaurant. Seated around the table were members of the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum as well as several straight allies who attended the conference. Sharing over a meal is something so basic in the human experience.

Most of all I so enjoyed the time during breaks just talking with others and hearing their stories. Amie Scott, transgender author and minister from Oregon. Her book, Deeper Waters is available on Kindle, I found it a good read. She and I seemed to really hit it off, being of similar ages, both tall, and both into music. Chelsea, who identified as multi-gendered. They did a wonderful job explain how they experience gender, with it fluctuating all along the spectrum day to day, but more to the masculine end of the spectrum. Paul who was sold into prostitution by his parents as a young child to support their drug habit, yet to see the sweet spirit he possesses today. Nicole a trans minister and counselor from Colorado. The mother of a gay child who took one of her daughters transgendered friends into her home because she was kicked out by her parents for being a sinner. So many others—I truly found my tribe.

CenterPeace and the Reformation Project alternate years hosting the annual conference. This year the Reformation Project will be hosting the conference in Nashville, Tennessee, October 26-28. You can find information online at reformationproject.org.

Here is a list of a few books and /or authors that I have found helpful in my faith journey. The first four are LGBTQ+ authors, the last two are straight.

Austen Hartke Transforming

Paula Stone Williams As a Woman

Sally Gary (Founder of Center Peace) Affirming

Matthew Vines (Founder of the Reformation Project) God and the Gay Christian

David P. Gushee After Evangelicalism

John Pavlovitz All his books are good, but I particularly recommend A Bigger Table and If God is Love, Don’t Be a Jerk.

Tags: featured, religion, Transgender

Category: Transgender Body & Soul