Part of the Family: Growing up Gay in a Pastor's Home

Growing up as the youngest child of a Pentecostal pastor in the sixties and seventies can be difficult enough, but discovering that she was gay while attending an evangelical university gives a whole new meaning to the word challenging. Nothing changed in Jan's heart regarding her steadfast love of the Lord. Those around her, however, told her that she could be gay or she could be a Christ follower, but…she could not be both. Yet she was both. After graduating with a degree in music education, she moved back to her childhood home in Eugene, Oregon. Finding the love of her life, she spent the next 30 years teaching elementary music in public schools. She and her wife continued to love the Lord with all of their hearts and yet were not fully embraced in most churches they attended. Never becoming too close or too involved, Lest someone would discover they were a gay couple. After most of their family had passed and desiring meaningful fellowship, they finally found a church that accepted them and allowed them to serve within certain parameters. After retiring, Jan felt the Lord calling her to share her story of being a Christian and being gay. This is her story. Her vulnerable memoir shares her painful, joyous, almost impossible journey to stay connected to those in her faith and her family. Read more