James Carney

There's No Place Like Home...somewhere over the Rainbow?: Feeling at Home in a Faith Community As a Sexual Minority James Carney

Many sexual minority people of faith struggle to integrate their sexual and spiritual identities, although research suggests that an affirming faith community can support this process. Nevertheless, research into the lived experience of being ?at home? in a faith community as a sexual minority is lacking. My study aimed to fill this gap in the literature. This work opens with a story of my own journey of identity integration in the context of a supportive community, followed by a review of the literature on the intersection of people?s sexual and spiritual identities, the lived experience of being ?at home,? and LGBQ people?s experiences in faith communities. I then discuss the phenomenological research method and its application to my study, followed by my study?s findings on the lived experience of at-homeness as a sexual minority in a faith community. Faith community leaders, mental health professionals, and others who want to learn how to help sexual minorities to feel at home in faith communities and other contexts will benefit from this work.