Becoming an Intentional Church Community: Relationships, Security, and Discipleship in Sexual Identity and Faith Development

Abstract

Drawing upon previous research with sexual minority Christian college students, we identify emergent themes important to ministry with sexual minorities integrating religious/spiritual and sexual identities: intrinsic religiosity, social relationships, self-acceptance, and complexity of identity integration. We propose a Trinitarian ministry model wherein the church serves as a holding environment—a discipling community intentionally designed to be relational, secure, and formational thereby creating a synergistic communal climate for identity development related to faith and sexuality.