The Rainbow Revival: Toward Inclusion and Affirmation

Early this month, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 Reconcile and Reform Conference in Atlanta. This was sponsored by The Reformation Project, founded by Matthew Vines. I became acquainted with Vines' God and the Gay Christian back when I was leading the coverage of the Hobbit movies for HollywoodJesus.com. Unfortunately, much of that content is gone, but with a lot of patience, you can find a few things on The Wayback Machine from Internet Archives. I was able to find a copy of my review of Vines' book there!

If you read my review from 2014, it was obvious I was impressed, but not yet fully convinced. It would take awhile before I became fully affirming. That is basically the same journey that Pastor Jim, who spoke at the Conference traveled. James A, Conrad, Jr. spoke at the Conference. I understand he has been a recurring speaker at the conferences. His experience with coming to terms with the issue, and leading his church to become LGBTQ+ affirming, is written up in his book, The Rainbow Revival: a pastor and church on the journey towards inclusion. (Please don't confuse this with the group The Rainbow Revival. They have definitely gone in another direction; they are very non-affirming, believing God does NOT want anyone to be gay or transgender.) 

As you read Pastor Jim's book, it quickly becomes apparent that he has a true pastor's heart. He cares about people. You will also find he is not an accomplished writer. But don't be put off by his lack of proper punctuation and sentence structure. Open yourself to his heart. After all, isn't loving God and people what we are to be about as Christians? 

This is not to say that Conrad is some sentimental milquetoast. He is not a snowflake. It is obvious he has studied the arguments for LGBTQ+ inclusion. He didn't come to his conclusions lightly. But if you are looking for a book to convince your mind, this probably isn't going to do it. There are other more scholarly books which were written for that. 

Pastor Jim never wanted to deal with this issue. It fell into his lap. He had mentally dealt with the issue somewhat over the years, but it really hit home when a family with a very conservative background asked if they would be accepted at Towne View Baptist. 

No one had ever asked me that question before. Maybe no one ever felt they needed to ask the question. Maybe some had asked and I didn't have ears to hear. (p.36)

The couple had both been raised in fundamental, independent Baptist churches in Indiana, and adopted three children. They had been living in Nebraska, and now were moving to Georgia. They wanted to raise the kids in a church environment as close to what they were used to, but the couple was two men. Would the church accept them?

The story continues about how Pastor Jim led the church through the process of accepting them as members. The church ended up losing a third of its membership, and was kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention. They made the national news. But they also saw God at work.

When I told a friend about our "rainbow revival" in the summer of 2019 he said, "Jim, if this happens, don't be surprised if you experience a revival of love and spirit and generosity in your church." 

Our church has been renewed by newcomers from the LGBTQ+ community, families and allies of the community and families where parents want to raise their children in this environment. One mother excitedly shared, "I can talk about my whole family here, even my gay son." They have taught us much about grace. I feel like we must be doing something right when someone says, "I am fully free to be me here and to fully and authentically worship God."

There have been many in conservative circles who have been praying for revival. Maybe this is God's answer. Maybe this is the reformation the church needed all along. Don't close your eyes to what God is doing like the religious leaders in Jesus' day did. You may be missing the miracle by assuming God doesn't work that way.