Leader Series – TEAM LICENSE

Description

Session 1 | How to Honor God and Include LGBT+ People

Many leadership teams have reported to us: “I don’t know how we can be inclusive while following our biblical beliefs.” Sound familiar? The fact is, every godly leader desires to foster a faith community experience that offers LGBT+ individuals a sense of belonging. We often say that, “exclusion has no power to reach already-rejected people.” And yet, every godly leader also senses a deep biblical responsibility to honor God’s holiness. So the question becomes: how do we include LGBT+ people – and honor God? We will utilize Posture Shift’s pioneer Inclusion Model that countless teams have found so valuable in their pursuit of both objectives. It’s a “human” inclusion model, not targeted at LGBT+ people – it applies to all of us.

Session 2 | How to Prepare My Church for Inclusion of LGBT+ People

During Posture Shift’s Intensive course in the UK, Pastor Mark reported: “As a church, our people tend to presume that LGBT+ people are only out in our community. We don’t realize that LGBT+ people are here – that LGBT+ youth are growing up in our families.” This is true in many evangelical settings. We are not so comfortable around LGBT+ people and may even view LGBT+ individuals as a threat to our biblical position. This “posture” feeds an “us vs. them” presumption that “they” are only out there in our community. The challenge, then, is that “visible inclusion” of LGBT+ people will likely trigger segments of the wider church body. As the conversation continued, Pastor Dave added: “I worry every week about LGBT+ people – especially youth – hearing unthoughtful remarks. Even language that is sarcastic, mocking, or condemning.” Due to these realities, preparing your church (school, camp, youth ministry) for “visible inclusion” is one of the TOP priorities of every leadership team.

Session 3 | How to Improve the Way Our Church Engages LGBT+ People

Dana (youth leader), who attended our Youth Belong series, told us: “I know words are so important – the challenge is that language keeps changing.” Daniel, from another church added: “I’m going to trigger ‘someone’ no matter what I say.” At Posture Shift, we train teams by a strict ethic that “Every. Word. Counts.” As important, we need to understand what LGBT+ people have faced historically – what they have experienced growing up – and how language can either foster trust or destroy it. This is not “woke” ideology – this is what every missionary reaching every people group around the world must commit to if we are to advance the Kingdom to reach people for Christ. This is best-practice missiology. We’ll take a deep look at how to reliably increase learning and unity around the importance of thoughtful engagement of LGBT+ people. Where congregations may tend to see heresy risk, they can begin to see “opportunity to build trust” and “opportunity to share Christ” with LGBT+ people.

Session 4 | How to Make Church Safe for Transgender and Non-Binary People

Nathan, an executive pastor, lamented the challenge leaders face as they include gender minorities in faith communities: “We haven’t found the best way to prepare parents for trans kids at our church’s private school.” This challenge applies to the inclusion of transgender and non-binary individuals across the wider church, and it is particularly sensitive in Christian schools, camps, and youth ministries. We are going to collaborate to come up with some key objectives and practical ideas for enhancing the safety and inclusion of gender minorities of all ages.