Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth, Updated Edition

Empower LGBTQIA youth in your church with the help of practical guidance, compassionate care, and fresh insights designed to build affirming, supportive faith communities.

Despite our best efforts to create welcoming and affirming congregations, the reality is that church can still be a harmful place for LGBTQIA youth. A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth, Updated Edition helps pastors and church leaders reflect on the various trials that adolescence brings for LGBTQIA youth and understand how an affirming stance toward LGBTQIA people can positively affect the day-to-day experience of teenagers in a church setting.

This newly updated resource provides insight and practical advice for important questions like:

• How can a pastor, youth minister, or volunteer embrace, nurture, and provide skillful care for LGBTQIA youth in a congregation or community?
• How can we encourage LGBTQIA teens who want to fully live out their Christian faith and their gender identity or sexual orientation?
• How should I respond to parents who are anxious or unwilling to support their LGBTQIA children?

New to this edition is a chapter on the intersections between LGBTQIA identity and neurodivergence, and extra attention to how churches can respond to the assault on diversity and transgender rights in the current political climate. An updated glossary of terms and list of national and local resources that can be used to support LGBTQIA youth are also included.