The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists will gather in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Friday, September 18, 2026, for the fifth annual AWAB Annual Lecture.
This year’s featured lecturer is Dr. William Stell, historian and author of Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity. Dr. Stell will present “The Power of Queer Religious History” at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
The evening will also mark an important moment in AWAB’s own history. Following the lecture, AWAB will host a celebratory reception recognizing the successful completion of the $1 million Here We Grow Campaign.
Exploring the Power of Queer Religious History
Queer people have always been part of the Christian story, even when their presence has been overlooked or erased from the histories many churches have inherited.
Through “The Power of Queer Religious History,” Dr. Stell will invite attendees to consider why recovering those stories matters and how a fuller understanding of LGBTQ+ religious history can challenge assumptions about Christianity in the United States.
Dr. Stell is a historian of religion and sexuality in the United States. He currently serves as an affiliate fellow at Princeton University’s Center for Culture, Society, and Religion and previously taught at New York University.
Before earning his Ph.D. from Princeton University, he served as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Bordentown, New Jersey. He is ordained in the United Church of Christ.
His 2026 book, Born Again Queer: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity, published by Princeton University Press, examines the history of gay activism within evangelical Christianity and complicates familiar narratives about the relationship between evangelical faith and LGBTQ+ people.
Dr. Stell is also writing The Moses of the Gay Liberation Movement, the first scholarly biography of the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of Metropolitan Community Churches.
Creating Space for Queer Scholarship and the Church
AWAB launched its Annual Lecture Series in 2022 to create a space where queer identifying scholars could engage the church through their scholarship and lived experience.
Each year, the lecture invites participants to encounter ideas that deepen our understanding of LGBTQ+ life within the Christian tradition while asking how that knowledge might shape the church we are becoming.
This year’s focus on queer religious history offers an especially important opportunity to recover stories that have too often been pushed to the margins.
For welcoming and affirming Baptists, knowing this history is about more than looking backward. It helps us better understand the communities that made today’s movement possible and reminds us that LGBTQ+ Christians have long been participants in shaping the life of the Church.
Celebrating the Completion of Here We Grow
The celebration will continue following the lecture with a special reception marking the successful culmination of AWAB’s $1 million Here We Grow Campaign.
For two years, churches and supporters from across the AWAB community have invested in a vision for strengthening the organization and expanding its capacity for the future. The reception will offer an opportunity to give thanks for what this community has accomplished together.
AWAB will also dedicate a newly commissioned stole during the celebration as a symbol of our shared ministry.
Guests will then be invited to participate in the introduction and first singing of a new hymn written especially for AWAB’s work and witness.
Together, these moments will help us celebrate an important chapter in AWAB’s story while looking toward the ministry ahead.
Join AWAB in St. Paul
AWAB 2026 Annual Lecture
“The Power of Queer Religious History”
Featuring Dr. William Stell
Friday, September 18, 2026
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
St. Paul, Minnesota
We invite AWAB members, LGBTQ+ people of faith, church leaders, students, and friends from across the wider Christian community to join us for this special evening.
Come learn with us as we recover important parts of queer religious history and celebrate a milestone in AWAB’s own journey.
Learn more and register at www.awab.org/lecture.