Creating SanctuaryHelping churches provide a safe place for members from the LGBTQ+ community
“The failure of many churches to welcome, accept and include LGBTQ+ people creates stigma, loneliness, fear and denial, causing lasting damage to their wellbeing and mental health.
What is more, the scale and severity of these problems are of the gravest concern. We need safe and affirming churches as places of sanctuary for all.
I applaud all that organisations such as Oasis are doing to champion real inclusion and to engage church leaders and others with the issues of safeguarding LGBT+ people. This work is urgent in order to protect all those who are vulnerable because of their sexual or gender identity.”
Sir Elton John
Creating Sanctuary Conference
Speaker sessions now available
This online conference took place on 17 October 2020 and was hosted by Oasis in partnership with Creating Sanctuary movement House of Rainbow, OneBodyOneFaith, Open House and the Ozanne Foundation. Nearly 300 people took part to explore how their churches could be more inclusive, covering:
- How to understand statutory guidance and the law
- How to embed safe practice in churches – understanding safeguarding and the promotion of welfare
- What good pastoral care looks like
- How we build healthy and safer churches
See below for links to speaker videos
What is the 'Creating Sanctuary' resource?
The Creating Sanctuary resource provides a framework to enable churches to explore inclusion through safer and respectful dialogue, so that churches can be safe places for people who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-sexual or other (LGBTQ+) even as the long-standing debates and conversations about how to read the Bible in relation to LGBTQ+ people continue.
It is an independent resource which has been co-designed by a group of Baptist and Church of England leaders.
Find out more about The Creating Sanctuary Core Group
Key speaker sessions from the Creating Sanctuary Conference
| Title | Date | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Andrea King, Chair Creating Sanctuary | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Jide MacAuley, House of Rainbow | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Dave Moreton, Oasis Church Waterloo | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Jayne Ozanne, Ozanne Foundation | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Creating Sanctuary Q & A | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Andrea King - the 'Creating Sanctuary' Resource | October 17, 2020 | See video |
| Creating Sanctuary movement website | see website |
Oasis LGBTQ+ publications
| Title | Date | Link |
|---|---|---|
| In the Name of Love | March 6, 2018 | Go to website |
| A Matter of Integrity | March 6, 2018 | Go to website |
| The Gender Agenda | March 6, 2018 | Go to website |
“What churches describe as pastoral concern for those with ‘same-sex attraction’ is, in fact, a highly toxic and psychologically abusive environment where vulnerable LGBTQ+ people, many of them teenagers or even children, report that they have been taught to believe that their desires are sinful.”
Rev Steve Chalke, Founder of Oasis