Loving Your Family As Yourself, Part 1
This year’s MTR Connect theme is As Yourself , because loving our neighbor changes everything.
This October, we’re turning the lens toward parents of LGBTQ+ children, in a two-part series exploring what it looks like to love a child fiercely even when it means rethinking everything you thought you believed. We’re kicking off the series with Bill and Timothy White, a father and son whose story captured national attention in The New York Times. When Timothy came out to his father at 15, it set off a years-long journey for Bill and was one he documented in real time in his journals, as he wrestled his way from fear to a deepened, more compassionate faith. Join us as Bill and Timothy share what that journey actually looked like from the inside, for both of them.
Bill White
Bill is a pastor at City Church Long Beach, a small, radically welcoming congregation in California, and co-founder of Small Church Big Table, a nonprofit that coaches pastors and church leaders navigating LGBTQ+ inclusion in their communities. When his son Timothy came out in 2015, it set Bill on a years-long path of theological reexamination — a process that cost his church more than half its members, but ultimately deepened his faith rather than breaking it. Bill and his wife, Katy, a physician, live in Long Beach.
Timothy White
Timothy is the son whose story (and his father’s journal entries)Â became the heart of the widely shared New York Times essay “How My Dad Reconciled His God and His Gay Son.” He came out to his parents at age 15 and, now an adult, works in political communications. Timothy and his father remain close, and together they’re sharing their story to help other families find their way toward greater understanding and love.
Registration Form 10/6/2026
Explore the “As Yourself” Season:
