Link to the archived videos...

A big thanks to the 34 participants that joined us in person and the 44 individuals who joined us on our live stream for our conference.

Now that our conference has ended, you can watch our archived videos here:
Click here to see the archived videos.

Please see the amended schedule above.  Due to extreme weather conditions in San Francisco, the Thursday events of our conference have been cancelled.

We hope you will still join us on Friday and Saturday and that you will stay safe and warm during the storms.

Be well,

Conference co-ordinator
Pastor Megan Rohrer

Featured Panalist

Rev. Lee Whittaker, MDiv

Rev. Lee Whittaker is an ordained minister with the Progressive Christian Alliance. He earned his Masters of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry and is currently taking classes at the Pacific School of Religion towards Certificates in Sexuality and Religion and Advanced Professional Studies. Lee serves on the Ministry Team for Tapestry Ministries DoC in Berkeley, CA. He also serves on the Leadership Council for the Progressive Christian Alliance, advisory board for the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations, and is also on the Transgender Task Force at the Pacific School of Relgion. Lee originally comes from the east coast and moved to Berkeley in 2010 to attend seminary.  He proudly identifies as a progressive Christian transman.

Introducing Pastor Megan Rohrer

The Rev. Megan Rohrer is the first openly transgender pastor ordained in the Lutheran church, was named a 2014 honorable mention as an Unsung Hero of Compassion by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, received an Honorary Doctorate from Palo Alto University and was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in transgender nonfiction.

Currently the pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco, CA, Pastor Rohrer's Bible Study that Doesn't Suck mobile app and contemporary music masses (Lady Gaga, Beatles, etc) inspire 3,600+ participants a month interact with the weekly justice-centered bible studies. Since 2002, Pastor Rohrer has also served as the Executive Director of Welcome- a communal response to poverty and raised over a million dollars, served 603,000 meals, given away 404,000 pounds of groceries, grown 5 tons of produce in community gardens, given away 18,000 pairs of socks and 1,000 pairs of prescription glasses.

Introducing Luciano Kovacs

Luciano is currently serving as North America Regional Secretary for the World Student Christian Federation and has held this position since January 2008. In this capacity, Luciano coordinates the work of the WSCF in North America (Canada and US) and has global responsibilities as member of the global staff team, which includes, among other staffing and co-moderating the WSCF Advocacy and Solidarity Committee. Luciano has facilitated the rebirth of the Student Christian Movement USA

Luciano previously worked as Social Justice Director for Jan Hus Presbyterian Church in New York coordinating its homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program, its Global Concerns Program and its Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender Advocacy Program. In this capacity, Luciano sat on the board of Presbyterian to End Homelessness and co-founded East Side Congregations for Housing Justice, a Manhattan-based coalition of churches and synagogues working on affordable housing and housing justice in New York City and the USA. Luciano produced six off-off Broadway plays at the Jan Hus Playhouse in New York City.

Luciano holds a Laurea degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from the University of Turin with a "Laurea" thesis on "A Gender critique of R.K. Narayan's novels" as part of his specialization in Literature of English speaking countries. Luciano holds a teaching certificate in English language and literature from the School Board of Parma Province, Italy and a Junior and Senior Fellowship on Non-Profit Management from Baruch College in New York, USA. Luciano studied acting at HB Studio in New York City. Luciano also studied at the University College of Dublin, Ireland for his European Erasmus Exchange Program, English Literature at the University College of London and researched his thesis at the University of Glasgow.

Luciano is a member of the Waldensian Church of Italy in his hometown Torre Pellice. He has been a member of the Agape Political Camp planning committee since 1998 and was a member of the Theological Camp staff in 1997. Luciano was involved in leadership positions in the Federazione Giovanile Evangelica Italiana (Italian Youth Protestant Federation) and the national representative to the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). From 1995-97 he sat on the European Regional Committee of the WSCF.

Luciano writes poetry and lyrics for an Italian band, Pellicans, whose second CD came out in October 2012. Acting and wild dancing are among his most-cherished passions and ubiquitousness his most sought-after desire. Luciano considers himself a long-life justice and peace activist!   

Featured Leader: Sarah McCune

Sarah McCune is the current Student Christian Movement-USA National Organizer. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Birmingham-Southern College and was active in her colleges' Allies movement. In 2010 McCune was a Hess Fellow partnered with the United Nations Alliance and Civilizations and a member of the 2011 Moore Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program cohort at UNC-Chapel Hill. She is currently enrolled at the Graduate Theological Union, affiliated with the Pacific School of Religion, in Berkeley, California where she is a Master’s candidate in Art and Religion.  Highlights of seminary have included SCM-LTP meetings, designing sacred spaces, meeting Pat Schneider, and meeting people excited about good news. Sarah has used her seminary education as foundation for new artistic exploration: her first exhibition, “Ossuary: Exhuming Poetry” was inspired by Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry Bones, her mixed media piece “Prayer in a Time of Distress” won first place for visual art in the National Religion Campaign Against Torture’s Call for Art--Life in a Box - Solitary Confinement: Torture in Your Backyard, and she is currently working on a new series about biblical call stories using candle wax.  Recently she launched her new website Thy Flesh and Thy Bone, which explores art as incarnational theology. 

Art Project: Altar*ed 

Sarah will lead an art project that  extend for the three days of the conference with a concrete outcome of displaying the art in welcoming congregations across the country. 

The project will be a photographic exploration of bodies as church altars. Participants will be required to sign a waiver and be willing to help implement this project idea.

Leadership Training Leader: Lauren Quock

Lauren Quock is a queer Chinese American artist, activist, and aspiring elementary school teacher. She grew up attending the Presbyterian Church in Chinatown in San Francisco and went to a Lutheran Missouri-synod school from kindergarten through 8^th grade.

Lauren first recognized the need to create safe spaces for LGBTQ people of faith in college, when a debate about same-sex marriage pitted the queer community against the faith community and left little room for queer people of faith.

While on the staff at the PANA Institute at Pacific School of Religion, Lauren opened the conversation about LGBTQ justice with youth leaders of color by holding Queer 101 workshops and sharing her experience as a queer Asian American Christian.

Lauren has been involved with the Network on Religion and Justice for Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ People since its founding in 2004 and currently serves as the organization’s Coordinator. With her team of volunteers, she creates community spaces, including a talking circle and an intergenerational choir, for API LGBTQ people of faith and allies who have been alienated by the church. She also facilitates educational workshops at API churches to break the silence around LGBTQ experiences and to help them to be more welcoming of LGBTQ people.

Lauren currently lives in Berkeley, CA.

The Network on Religion and Justice for Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer People (NRJ) is a culturally respectful, LGBTQ-affirming, spiritually grounded, justice seeking network of API-LGBTQ organizations and individuals

their faith communities, family and friends working to nurture and support efforts toward a fully LGBTQ-inclusive Asian Pacific Islander faith community.

NRJ creates community spaces and leadership development for Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ people of faith and allies through monthly organizing meetings and Talking Circles. NRJ provides education to Asian Pacific Islander churches to increase their understanding of LGBTQ people and support their efforts towards full inclusion of LGBTQ people. NRJ creates resources for Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ people of faith and Asian Pacific Islander faith communities, including a director of LGBTQ-friendly API churches,directory of LGBTQ-friendly API pastors, library of sermons and articles, and videos! Check us out at www.netrj.org.