Candice Czubernat

My name is Candice Czubernat, and I’m a gay Christian, wife, mother, therapist, writer and speaker and I am the founder of The Christian Closet. I pinch myself everyday that I get to do this work of walking alongside others as they find happiness, wholeness and healing. I'm a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with the State of Washington and a MFTI in the state of California. I have my Masters in Counseling Psychology and have been working in the mental health field for over 14 years. I've counted it a privilege to have walked with countless people through the stories of their lives. I grew up in a loving home, but the Christian roots did not provide any context, or support for me to struggle with the notion of being gay. It took time, prayer, study, process and lots of support for me to come to the place I am today.

I feel incredibly lucky to have Crystal as my wife and life partner and we have 5 year old twins, Deacon and Dylan. We love play and adventure so you can find us looking for that just about every weekend usually outside in nature. In the last few years, I've become a speaker at conferences around the country and in 2013, The Advocate named me one of the "10 Pro-LGBT Religious Women You Should Know". Additionally, I’ve been given a book deal by Eerdmans Publishing Co and am in the process of writing a book about what churches mean when they say, “All are Welcome.”

In college I had a deep desire to serve and connect with God while also learning the art of therapy. That's why for my undergraduate work, I attended The Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. This is the first formal educational space where I spent time studying the Bible and Counseling. This was not an easy place to struggle with a LGBTQI identity while also desiring to be close to God. While there, I deepened my understanding of the fact that some Christian individuals and groups interpret scripture in a way that bring about confusion, homophobia and a lack of love and self acceptance for LGBTQI people. While it was very difficult, I'm grateful to have had this experience as it deepened my understanding of the queer experience within a faith context.

For my graduate work I went on to study at the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. I spent the first half of my graduate studies as a Masters of Divinity Student, but decided to complete my degree in a Masters in Counseling Psychology, where I spent time studying, reading and learning about the integration of theology (God) and psychology (humans). While studying theology, I made sure to spend time focusing on the different interpretations of what the Bible says about the role of women and queer people. I hold to a firm belief that being LGBTQI does not in any way separate me, or anyone else from God, or His/Her love.