Bio: A charter member of the WCA, Debra Baty has served as a member of the Accountable Discipleship Task Force, as the Chair of the Sexuality Task Force,1 and as a member of the WCA Global Council. Debra is dedicated to equipping the church regarding the stewardship of creation along with sexuality and gender. She is the author of the Resources4Redemption newsletter, established in May of 2016, (available on Substack since June of 2020) serving to equip followers of Jesus to speak the gospel fluently, truthfully, and kindly on issues related to sexuality. Along with Mark Ongley and Garry Ingraham, she is a speaker for the 3 C Seminars on Sexuality and Gender. A member of Asbury Church, Debra is also is a fan of Lewis and Tolkien. Both she and her husband enjoy backpacking, kayaking, cycling, and other outdoor activities.
Bio: Garry Ingraham is the founder and executive director of Love & Truth Network, a ministry that equips pastors and Christian leaders to develop environments which foster relational and sexual wholeness. Since 2016, he has also served as the director of Transforming Congregations, a renewal ministry equipping Methodists to address sexual brokenness and gender identity confusion. Through leadership training, preaching and teaching, conferences and various ministry opportunities, Gary's ministries serve to promote relational and sexual wholeness within the Church.
Bio: Mark Ongley has counseled hundreds of people with varying issues of sexual brokenness, and is author of Into the Light: Healing Sexuality in Today's Church and Pure Hearted: Bonding Together for Sexual Wholeness. Recently retired from pastoring for 27 years as a United Methodist, he blogs at Tsunami Surfing (tsurfing.substack.com).
Topic (Session 1): How can we answer questions and accusations regarding sexual holiness in ways that build closer relationships with family and friends, and encourage them to look to Jesus? It has become easy to dismiss the Biblical Christian sexual ethic as “-phobic” or hateful, yet there are ways we can call these false assumptions into question, and deepen our connections with those around us. The Lord is drawing people to Himself out of the chaos of sexuality and gender in our culture, and we will share examples in this talk.