US Ministry The Center for Faith Urges Traditional Churches to Welcome LGBTQ Parishioners
In late September 2026, the US Christian educational ministry The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender hosted an open webinar and released training resources dedicated to creating supportive, hospitable communities for LGBTQ+ parishioners and same-sex attracted believers within churches that uphold traditional biblical sexual ethics. The featured speaker was American pastor Tony Scarcello, author of a practical guide published by InterVarsity Press on fostering relationships between conservative congregations and sexual minorities.
According to materials in The Center for Faith’s resource library , the webinar, titled Building Life-Giving Churches for LGBTQ+/SSA People, forms part of an educational curriculum designed for pastors, ministry leaders, and parents. Scarcello, who serves as pastor of discipleship at Red Hills Church in Oregon and speaks openly about his own experience of same-sex attraction, emphasized that traditional congregations do not need to abandon historic Christian theology on marriage to overcome alienation and prejudice toward LGBTQ+ individuals. In his remarks, he argued that commitment to orthodox doctrine must be paired with honoring the image of God in every person, moving past culture-war hostility, and offering authentic community and pastoral care.
During the presentation, Scarcello highlighted frequent shortcomings in church ministry, where same-sex attracted believers are often relegated to isolation or subjected to harmful conversion practices. Drawing from his book Love All Our Neighbors, he contended that adherence to the traditional view of marriage as a union between a man and a woman does not preclude LGBTQ+ Christians from full participation in church life through celibacy outside of heterosexual marriage. The Center, led by theologian Dr. Preston Sprinkle, previously issued a pastoral paper titled Is Same-Sex Attraction a Sin?, in which the authors distinguished involuntary attraction from sinful behavior, concluding that experiencing same-sex attraction is not in itself a morally culpable sin before God.
The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender was founded in 2017 by theologian Dr. Preston Sprinkle to equip Christian leaders, churches, and families to engage questions of faith, sexuality, and gender with theological faithfulness and compassionate care. The ministry articulates what is often described as a “Side B” theological framework, maintaining historic sexual ethics while firmly rejecting conversion therapy, stigmatization, and the exclusion of sexual minorities.
Discussions regarding pastoral ministry to believers with same-sex attraction remain active across various Christian traditions. Previously, Urania reported on debates within the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse concerning the introduction of Courage International , examined an Oregon court ruling protecting a Christian foster mother’s religious beliefs , and covered the theological controversy sparked by an Episcopal sermon in New York referencing Christ and gender .
