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...providing safe places for men and women who experience same-sex attraction
Helping churches, schools and families have conversations about homosexuality
CenterPeace provides safe places for men and women who experience same-sex attraction. Since 2006 CenterPeace has been helping churches and families all over the world learn a more Christ-like response to individuals experiencing same-sex attraction.
A Place To Belong Isn’t that what we all want, really? Somewhere we feel loved and wanted. A place where we can be real. A place where we can say what’s really going on inside and not be turned away or ostracized simply by others’ silence. A place where we’re included and accepted, no matter what.
That’s what Jesus did for people while he was here on this earth. And he’s still doing it today through communities of faith that believe in being safe places. CenterPeace is built on the concept of table fellowship, on the truth that Jesus invites each of us, no matter where we are in our thinking, to dine with him.
Founded as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, CenterPeace offers seminars to help church leaders, educators, and families better understand same-sex attraction and open conversations about faith and homosexuality. CenterPeace grew out of Sally Gary’s own journey, growing up in a Christian family, experiencing same-sex attraction without a safe place to talk about those feelings. Church and university leaders gathered with Sally for nearly two years exploring what a ministry like this should offer, and the result was CenterPeace. For over a decade churches and universities have reached out to CenterPeace for helping families and individuals resolve questions of faith and homosexuality. Allowing the Lord to take the brokenness of our past and use it to His glory, CenterPeace is helping Christians who experience same-sex attraction find a place to belong within the Body of Christ.
We welcome grace-filled dialogue and respectful disagreement with all who come to the table, acknowledging Jesus as the CenterPeace of our existence.
We neither promote nor condone even the most well-intentioned condemnation of God's children who experience same-sex attraction, nor will we allow political causes to distract us from extending the Lord's invitation to His banquet table. Jesus came to change hearts, not laws, and we are committed to following Him.
For without Jesus at the center of our lives, there is no peace.
CenterPeace provides a variety of events.
We help churches, families and schools all over the world learn a more Christ-like response to individuals experiencing same-sex attraction. We offer seminars to equip churches leaders, family members, educators and friends to better understand how to relate to loved ones who experience same-sex attraction. We train parents and teachers to instill healthy attitudes toward gender in their children. And we provide ongoing community among believers who experience same-sex attraction through our spiritual formation retreats.
Our Peacemaker seminars are designed to help church leaders, family members and friends create safe places for conversations about same-sex attraction.
Gender Matters workshops teach parents of young children and teens the importance of developing healthy gender identity.
Tapestry retreats offer community and deeper intimacy with God to men and women who experience same-sex attraction.
We’re open to tailoring events to fit your specific needs. Meeting with a variety of groups over the years, from elders’ meetings to luncheons with counselors or youth ministers, more and more churches are turning to CenterPeace to provide insight regarding same-sex attraction. An afternoon or evening session for your church’s leadership team, or an informal dialogue or interview with Sally, may be all that’s required to accomplish your purpose. We’ll be happy to accommodate.
Colleges and universities, and private K-12 schools seeking guidance on how to meet the needs of students who experience same-sex attraction on their campuses have utilized CenterPeace to meet this growing need. We’ll work with you to discern what type of gathering would be most helpful for your institution. Whether it means a formal speaking engagement on campus, or a more personal Q&A at a local coffee house, or a workshop for teachers after school, we’ll find what best fits your needs.
See if there's a CenterPeace event happening near you.
Hosted by the Northside Church of Christ in San Antonio, TX, this seminar will feature personal stories, instructional sessions, and inspirational worship led by Brandon Scott Thomas. Dr. David Gililland, psychologist and consultant with the G Group from Fort Worth, will join Sally in presenting material to equip church leaders with better understanding of the needs of those impacted by same-sex attraction. Lynn Anderson will address the Northside congregration on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon will be devoted to the needs of families with gay and lesbian loved ones. Visit the Northside website for more information.
God designed us to live in community, to be in intimate relationships with one another, to be connected. And yet, for many Christian men and women who experience same-sex attraction, it’s often difficult to fill that need for intimacy with someone who “gets” you. It’s hard to find what we were created to need - a place to belong.
Gender Matters workshops teach parents of young gender matters children and teens the importance of developing healthy gender identity.
If you are interested in learning more about what CenterPeace is all about, or are looking for some direction, below are some great resources. Including CenterPeace director, Sally Gary's new book, Loves God, Likes Girls.
For many Christians who experience same-sex attraction, reconciling faith and homosexuality is a lonely and painful journey. Sally Gary’s touching memoir is one woman’s recollection of her own journey.
No other issue has been more divisive in families and in faith communities than this. Rather than providing cookie-cutter answers as to why someone experiences same-sex attraction and how to “make it go away,” Loves God, Likes Girls simply gives one woman’s perspective on the experiences over a lifetime that impact the development of sexuality. Her story emphasizes that those who experience same-sex attraction need safe places to explore questions, to find community, and to grow deeper in relationship with God.
“Into the contested debates about same-sex attraction enters Sally Gary's haunting, heartwrenching, and beautiful memoir. This is a love story that cannot be easily categorized or co-opted in a debate where battle lines have often been aggressively and unhelpfully drawn. That is the prophetic power of this vulnerable and soul-searching book. May Loves God, Likes Girls help the church open her heart to the stories aching to be told. And may the courage of Sally's story embolden you to tell your own.”
—Richard Beck, experimentaltheology.blogspot.com
FAITH
FAITH & HOMOSEXUALITY
SEXUALITY
MEMOIR
MINISTRY
SALLY’S STORY
MIKE COPE
DON MCLAUGHLIN
RANDY HARRIS
DON MCGLAUGHLIN
COUPLES INTERVIEWS
EXPERIMENTAL THEOLOGY
ODD MAN OUT
CHRISTOPHER YUAN
SALLY GARY
RACHEL HELD EVANS
JENNIFER SHEWMAKER
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