My husband, who volunteered as a technical director there, and I, who worked with 3 to 4-year-old kids in the church, lost our friend-groups as well. She’s much better now, but it was devastating then for her to lose her sense of purpose and all of her friends. She went from a happy-go-lucky girl to someone who had suicidal thoughts and needed to be watched over 24/7. What followed was the worst three months of our lives as parents. Kat had felt called to work with children (she’s currently working towards a degree in pediatric oncology) and to sing, and she felt that the church had just taken her purpose away. She was, however, allowed to volunteer in other ways, such as handing out flyers and working in the parking team - just no leadership roles. The same woman, Christy, who had baptized her told her that morning that because she had come out as gay on Instagram, she could no longer serve in leadership, meaning she could no longer be a worship leader or lead her second-grade small group. Last June, my daughter showed up to church to lead worship in the elementary environment. I was glad to be in a church where the senior pastor, Andy Stanley, once preached that the “church should be the safest place on the planet for gay teens.” I couldn’t have expected then what would happen a year later. She was 15 and passionately devoted to God and her church. You’re there every Sunday, worshipping and leading a small group. A woman who was standing next to her said in front of the whole audience, “One of my favorite things about you is the energy and the light that you have in you for the kids. In 2017, I watched my daughter, Kat, sit on stage ready to be baptized.
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