Rev. Nicole Garcia

Counselor, Minister, Trans Activist

Nicole Garcia (she/her) is the Mission Developer Pastor at Westview Church, an affirming and welcoming congregation in Boulder, CO. Nicole has a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN. Nicole has a Master of Arts in Counseling from CU Denver and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Colorado. She works part-time as a therapist and clinical supervisor with the Umbrella Collective in Boulder. Nicole spent last summer as the sabbatical pastor at New Beginnings Worshipping Community, an ELCA congregation within the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. She was so taken with prison ministry, she preserved her connection to the ministry by becoming the president of the outside council to help support and nurture the congregation.

Rev. Danny Cortez

Pastor, Ally, Q Christian Board Member

Danny Cortez was the founding pastor of New Heart, a Southern Baptist church that became an inclusive space for LGBTQ+ people. Last year, he stepped down from pastoring the local church and founded Estuary Space (estuaryspace.org), a non-profit that helps people and churches navigate through the complexities of faith and sexuality. He serves as a board member of Q Christian Fellowship and recently wrote the organization’s Relational Guide for Clergy. He also serves on the board of PFLAG SGV. He co-founded My Refuge House, a non-profit that restores survivors of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and abuse. He serves regularly as a hospice chaplain. He earned his M.Div. at Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, CA and is a graduate of Arrow Leadership, BC, Canada. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife Abby and their 4 Filipino children.

Anti-Racism Roundtable

Darren Calhoun (He/Him), Rev. Nicole Garcia (She/Her), DeRay McKesson (He/Him), Carrie. N (They/She)

Darren Calhoun, Rev. Nicole Garcia, DeRay McKesson, and Carrie N. discuss the essential subject of anti-racism, our individual and collective responsibilities in the pursuit of equity, and its centrality to the work and mission of Q Christian Fellowship. For an introduction into the premise "race is not real, but it is very important", check out Vox's fantastic video and explainer entitled "The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes"​. This video was also shown during the presentation at Conference.

Protecting LGBTQ+ Youth from Conversion Therapy

Sam Brinton (They/Them) & Casey Pick (She/Her)

Casey Pick of The Trevor Project speaks to the fight against conversion and reparative therapies around the United States. Conversion therapy is the discredited practice of attempting to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity. Despite research linking the practice to increased mental illness and suicidality and its rejection by every major medical organization, conversion therapy is still practiced by licensed professionals across the country. The Trevor Project discusses the current state of legal protections in the United States, recent research into the prevalence and harms of conversion therapy, and offer suggestions on how attendees - whether survivors, parents, mental health professionals, ministry leaders, or other LGBTQ people and allies - can join the effort to protect LGBTQ youth.

Parents of LGBTQ+ Children Panel

Parents of LGBTQ+ children discuss allyship, solidarity, and the pursuit of relational justice on a General Session Panel at the 2020 Q Christian Fellowship Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Transgender & the Bible

Brent Walsh (He/Him) & April Vanlonden (She/Her)

Christians often wrestle with what the Bible says about transgender people, limiting the inclusiveness of our churches. As LGBTQ+ Christians we have learned to defend our faith by pushing against the clobber passages that have oppressed us; however, this is often an ineffective approach since it’s grounded in colonialism. This session explores the Genesis creation narrative, discuss the limits that come with comparing modern transgender people to the ancient eunuchs, and examine the broken pieces caused by living too long on the defensive. Together we can collect different pieces and find new freedom in our true Christian birthright!

Spiritual & Mental Health Panel

Austen Hartke (He/Him), Laura Beth Buchleiter (She/Her), Matt Nightingale (He/Him), Aaron Brown (He/Him), & Candice Czubernat (She/Her)

The LGBTQ+ Christian experience is totally unique. One can so easily feel rejected on all sides and there seems to be little direction on how to traverse the path well. This panel is a combination of pastors, theologians, authors and mental health professionals from the LGBTQ+ Christian community. It discusses the spiritual and emotional needs specific the LGBTQ+ community and practical ways to meet them before and after coming out.

Look Both Ways: A Coming Out Guide

Candice Czubernat (She/Hers)

You are stronger than you think. It takes endurance to live through the excruciating experience of being closeted. The years, months, days and minutes you spend before coming out have an exclusive kind of torment to it. To imagine coming out can feel like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. It’s hard to fully be present because at any given point in the day there is a significant part of us imagining how coming out will go. We speculate with great detail, visualizing how our friends and families will respond, we weigh with careful detail the losses that will surely come, fearing and fighting the voices that question and worry that we might be wrong. You are not alone and there is life beyond this pain. There is hope and a story that will be yours that you can’t even imagine yet. In this workshop we will traverse the unique dynamics of what it’s like to be closeted and together we’ll create a plan of what to do next. Let’s talk about what it’s like to be closeted and then dream about coming out.

Q Night Live

Various Artists

Welcome to a special Q Night Live throwback from #TheGreatCommunion​ Conference in January featuring community members Kelly Ravenscraft, Jess Grace Garcia, Matt Nightingale, Stefie Dominguez, Rachel Francis, and Samuel Ramsey!

Queering the Resurrection

Alysha Laperche

Preaching Jesus to Paul

Mariana Thomas