Common Sanctuary was founded in 2021 to focus on three main things:

1) Contemplative Spirituality for LGBTQ+ people - Matt Nightingale, our founder and executive director, is a spiritual director and works with approximately 30 clients that he sees monthly in person or over Zoom. Nearly all of them are queer, and many of them are from evangelical Christian backgrounds. Many are trying to reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation or gender identity, and he walks with them as they are figuring out coming out or navigating difficult family, work, school and church situations. He works with people all over the US and Canada, and he even has clients in Kenya and London.

Matt also leads contemplative spirituality groups on Monday nights that are very meaningful for people. One group, which meets every other Monday, is for LGBTQ+ people only, and the other, which meets on the opposite Mondays, allows allies to join. These have been going for several years now and have become safe, sacred communities where people can explore their spirituality in light of their sexual and gender identities.

We even had our first in-person retreat for the LGBTQ+ Monday night group back in March, and it was absolutely wonderful for 12 of us to be together for a weekend!

If you’re ever interested in joining us, here are the registration links:

LGBTQ+ Group - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoceihqz0rGdY23QXNnVVv8VJRrLPA2cMx#/registration

LGBTQ+ & Allies Group - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwscemsqDguHtRN2Vas5pxuXHOQaX8JaTJI#/registration

Matt has been preaching and teaching on contemplative spirituality for LGBTQ+ people too, at the Q Christian Fellowship Conference, as well as at a few churches he's been invited to. Some of these talks can be found on our website by clicking here.

2) Mixed-Orientation Marriage Support - As many Common Sanctuary supporters know, Matt was married to a woman for 23 years and has 4 adult children. His former wife, Luanne, and he did a TEDx talk that has racked up 43K views now, and he has many people in similar circumstances who come to him for support. He leads support groups and offers individual coaching and spiritual direction.

Matt is currently in talks with a wonderful therapist who was herself the straight spouse in a mixed-orientation marriage. They are hoping to launch Common Sanctuary’s first support group for straight spouses in early 2025.

3) Education and Advocacy. Through Common Sanctuary's YouTube channel and Matt's Instagram, website, blog, and, especially, Twitter account (22.1K followers), Matt is always working to help LGBTQ+ people find support and connection and to find spiritual support… and to help Christians (especially conservatives) understand LGBTQ+ people.

Since the election, Matt has lost nearly 1500 Twitter followers, as people have been searching for social media alternatives. It seems like we have settled on Bluesky, so he has started posting there too, and in just a little over a week, he has managed to gain 2200 followers there! We're hopeful that Bluesky can become another viable ministry outlet for Matt and Common Sanctuary.

Some of our hopes and dreams for the future of Common Sanctuary:

Continuous support groups. At this point, we are able to offer one maybe once per year. We'd love to always have one running.
Low-cost or free spiritual direction services for LGBTQ+ people. We are currently able to offer this to several clients, but we would love to be able to offer this to more. This might involve contracting with more spiritual directors.
Scholarships so that finances are never a factor in providing support group services to people in mixed-orientation marriages.
Podcast/YouTube series that is consistently creating content instead of the hit-and-miss frequency that currently exists.
Support for the SPOUSES in mixed-orientation marriages. This is sorely lacking.
Support for children of mixed-orientation marriages.
Travel to make appearances at all the LGBTQ+ and progressive Christian conferences, etc.: QCF, Reformation Project, Evolving Faith, Wild Goose, etc.
Regular in-person retreats for people in mixed-orientation marriages.
Completely revamp our website.

Can you help? We have a year-end goal of $5,000, and your tax-deductible donation of any amount will go a log way toward helping us reach that goal! Thank you!

With gratitude,

The Common Sanctuary Board of Directors

Sarah Camper, Lynn Fitzpatrick & Jaime Zavala

and Founder/Executive Director Matt Nightingale

Common Sanctuary's End-of-Year Fundraiser

Help us meet our 2024 giving goals!

Team Members