Jen Hatmaker, a progressive Christian author who supports same-sex relationships, recently released a new online course to help parents and guardians raise their LGBTQ+ tweens and teens.
The course, titled "Me Course," guides participants in answering "essential questions and learnings on how to become more educated in the LGBTQIA+ space, navigate our own feelings and improve our parenting responses, understand our child's journey, and feel less alone in the process."
Hatmaker, who shared in 2020 that one of her children came out as gay, explained on her website: "One of my greatest sadnesses in my life is that I did not do my own work early enough so that my own daughter, Sydney, felt safe and beloved in her journey to discovering herself and who she was beautifully made to be."
In a June 2 Instagram post, Hatmaker said that the course provides several principles for parenting LGBTQ kids and answers the questions of "what to do if your kiddo comes out to you; how do keep your kid safe; how to navigate the faith landscape; and so much more."
"Whether you're a parent of an LGBTQIA+ kiddo — or you think you might be — or you're an ally and want to help make the world a safer, better place, you are going to want to get in on this," she concluded.
According to ChurchLeaders.com, the course also includes access to a Q&A session between Hatmaker and therapist Isaac Archuleta, a guest expert in the program. Archuleta, the CEO of I Am Clinic in Denver, grew up in a conservative Assemblies of God household. Both of his parents were ministers.
Although he came out as gay when he turned 22, he later spent years in conversion therapy and attended seminary. He eventually launched a therapy practice "of queer people for queer people" after struggling with depression and anxiety following his coming out.
Another guest expert in the course is Sara Cunningham, who founded Free Mom Hugs after her son came out as gay.
In 2016, Lifeway pulled Hatmaker's books from its shelves after she publicly affirmed same-sex relationships.
In a May 30 blog post last month, Hatmaker cited late Christian author Rachel Held Evans as "the primary influence on my then-evangelical life that led me into a fully affirming position for my LGBTQ+ neighbors."
She noted having faced a "spiritual crisis" and "cognitive dissonance" about a decade ago when "my evangelical edges were fraying."
Hatmaker later met Evans, whose "brilliant mind and pastor's heart paved a way not around the Bible but straight through it to an affirming position with a clear conscience."
"You made the church and the world safer for my daughter and all the sons and daughters," Hatmaker said of Evans.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Wesley Hitt/Stringer
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
