What does it look like to build and sustain an LGBTQ+ affirming church in the rural South? The Rev.’d Claire Brown visited and spoke with more than a dozen such churches to find out. More LGBTQ+ people live in this region than any other part of the country, and in this first episode of a series of conversations, Rev’d Brown talks with the director of the Rural Faith Initiative, Rev’d Whitney Kimball Coe, about the ways these communities of faith defy cultural and religious stereotypes by living out their inclusive values.

The Rural Faith Initiative is a program of the Center for Rural Strategies. We know churches and faith communities are essential institutions in rural communities. RFI provides media training, accompaniment, and facilitation tools to faith leaders and faith-based orgs, supporting their efforts to build stronger, kinder, more just communities.