I “came out” in my early 20s and attended a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary openly lesbian. As a student in seminary I lobbied for marriage and ordination of LGTBQ individuals and ministered among gay youth, espousing a theology that embraced homosexuality. Upon graduating I served as a youth pastor in a small rural community, where an encounter with Jesus radically shifted my perspective. The love of God drew me into a revelation that transformed my life.
I have great passion for understanding sexuality and gender as it affects Christianity in our culture. I regularly consult with pastors and leaders who seek to establish connection with the LGBTQ community and to better serve individuals in churches who do not identify as gay, yet struggle with sexual identity issues. My heart is to see the LGBTQ community fully reconciled to God and to explore compassionate means of connection to those who disagree with traditional Christian beliefs.
I teach at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and regularly facilitate interactive conversations about sexuality and gender here at Moral Revolution and Equipped to Love. I hold a Masters in Theology and am a licensed pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, CA where my husband, Doug, and I live.
I regularly publish essays, found here, that focus on theological and compassionate approaches to LGBTQ experience.
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Dean Broyles is the President of the National Center for Law and Policy (formerly Western Center for Law & Policy). He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Regent University School of Law, in Virginia Beach, Virginia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. After college, while serving as a church youth director, Dean was called to law school specifically to be trained to fight for religious liberties. He was mentored in law school in constitutional litigation by Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), one of our nation’s preeminent constitutional attorneys. Dean also clerked for several years at the National Legal Foundation, a religious liberty non-profit organization.
Following law school graduation, while starting his civil litigation practice, he was invited to become an affiliate attorney of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), from which Dean has received extensive training in pro-family, pro-life and pro-religious liberty matters at ADF’s outstanding National Litigation Academies (NLA). Because of Dean’s pro-bono work, he was invited to receive special training at ADF’s advanced NLA. Dean is proud to be an ADF affiliate attorney and member of ADF’s honor guard.
Prior to founding the NCLP, Dean maintained a successful law practice for more than a decade, where he focused on civil litigation and business matters. Dean cares deeply about his profession, is hard working, and is willing to fight to preserve our precious civil liberties. Dean lives with his wife Shona and three adopted children Ryan, Jasmine and Bryant in Escondido, California. He is a Christian who serves his local church as a volunteer leader. In his free time, Dean enjoys skiing, mountain biking, and working out at the gym.
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