As an Open and Affirming Congregation of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), SouthPark Christian Church would like you to join us as we hear the real life experiences of members of the LGBTQ community with coming out as Gay and Christian. For this study we will be reading the book, “Family of Origin Family of Faith Stories of Queer Christians” by Katie Hayes and Susan A. Chiasson. Rev. Katie Hayes is a Disciples of Christ Minister and the founding pastor of Galileo Christian Church in Forth Worth Texas and Susan A. Chiasson is a social scientist.

**This Book Study will be offered via zoom as well as in person.

Katie Hayes, one of the authors of the book will be joining us on Sunday, June 19th via Zoom for a Q&A session.

• Please bring a bag lunch and something to share with others- snacks, chips, desserts, etc.

Disciples Sunday School Classroom 

For more information contact: Kevin Baker-Rooks at revkevdoc@gmail.com

About the book:

“A social scientist and a pastor, both from Galileo Church on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Texas, asked their LGBTQ+ friends from church to help them understand how they navigate relationships with their affirming, non-affirming, and affirming-ish families of origin, even as they also find belonging in other families of choice. The resulting stories, crafted from interviews with fifteen queer Christians and family members, kept anonymous at their request, are as varied as the colors of the rainbow. Over the years, some grew closer to their families of origin; others grew more distant. Some were surprised by the hardness of heart they encountered; others were amazed by the breadth of their family’s love. Most all describe a trajectory, a journey, from the coming-out moment till now and beyond, as their families of origin, like all families, remain a work in progress.”