Sanctuary as Evangelism

By: Sarah S. Howell-Miller

“This is what I really need to know: is there a place for me in Christianity?”

She was sitting in my office at The Foundry House intentional community, wearing rainbow unicorn onesie pajamas with a “My pronouns are she/her” enamel pin attached. She had stayed in our guest room the night before at the invitation of one of our residents, and after morning prayers, she had come to my office and asked if I had time to talk.

She shared about her upbringing as a boy in the church, how her views on LGBTQIA+ inclusion had shifted as she wrestled with her own identity, how her family’s inability to understand her journey created anxiety around every step she took to claim her transgendered self.

She told me she didn’t always feel welcome in churches, but that since she began transitioning, she actually felt closer to God. She described a feeling of God smiling on her, as if God had known all along who she really was and was delighted for her finally to know as well. And she asked whether there could be a place for her in Christianity.

We talked about the cultural context in which the Bible was written and the ways in which we confuse societal norms with divine law; how liberation theology describes God as having a preferential option for the marginalized and oppressed; how there is nothing queerer than the God of the universe transgressing the boundary between divinity and humanity to become incarnate in Jesus.

I recently had a conversation with Larry Duggins, my colleague in the Missional Wisdom Foundation, about the definition of evangelism. We talked about how we tend to think of evangelism very narrowly in terms of offering Christ to non-Christians.

But evangelism is simply announcing good news. There may be times when a person needs conversion, not from unfaith to faith, but from an immature or tenuous faith to a deeper sense of belonging and belovedness.

There may be times when faithful Christians may need the good news of other traditions, even other religions, to invite them into a deeper acceptance of and response to the Gospel. And there are people who believe in God but who feel rejected or hurt by the church and need to hear the good news that there is a place for them in Christianity—and more importantly, the broader church needs the good news that a person who has worked so intentionally to claim her identity as a child of God has to share with us all.

I do not judge anyone who has experienced religious rejection from prioritizing their emotional and spiritual safety over ties to an institution or creed. But I am grateful that this woman is trying to stay and seeking answers to her questions. And I am grateful that with the support of the Missional Wisdom Foundation, we have begun to create a sanctuary at The Foundry House where she can feel welcomed, accepted, and loved by God and by other people.