<—PREVIOUS NEXT —>
RANDY LAYTON-MORGAN
After turning his back on God and the church in his 20s, Randy Layton-Morgan had an epiphany: God still loved him, gay or not. Layton-Morgan decided to spread the message that you can be “saved and gay” and this year, he celebrated the 10th anniversary of New Covenant Church of Atlanta and his 17th year with partner (and senior pastor) Johnny.
How would you define your role in Atlanta’s LGBT community?
I believe that there is a tremendous paradigm shift in the LGBT community’s spiritual identity. I believe that there is a “Revival Atmosphere or Culture” developing among our people. I feel that my role is to do my best to be one of the promoters and facilitators in this movement and to promote an atmosphere that says “God First.” The movement is focusing on finding one’s identity in a heart-relationship with God first and then out of that primary relationship discovering whole, healthy relationships that have God at the center of them.
What do you forecast for Atlanta’s LGBT community in the next 5 to 10 years?
I see the LGBT’s spiritual community growing faster than any other aspect of our community. I also see Atlanta’s LGBT community becoming much more unified and vocal about this issue more than any other – LGBT Teen Suicides. I see a focus on how to get standard information into the hands of every teen that offers hope, referrals to counselors, and standard information for preventing the hopelessness that leads to suicide.
We learn from all our experiences, both good and bad. Tell us about a negative life experience you’ve had that you learned a valuable lesson from.
When I was 22 years old, I came out of the closet and had to leave the church of my youth. My “spiritual father” (my pastor) was someone I truly admired and counted on. When I came out, he turned his back on me. It was the most painful experience of my life up until that time. Not knowing that there were LGBT affirming churches available, I turned my back on God and His church. I came out and tried to find solace in alcohol and sex. It was during this most painful time of rejection and uncertainty that my only hope came in the form of an internal, still, small whisper. It was God saying to me, “you are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). The lesson I learned through the pain of that time was, “no matter what I was struggling with, no matter who had hurt me, no matter who had turned his/her back on me, no matter what, GOD KNEW WHO I WAS, GOD CARED, AND GOD WAS AT WORK TO HEAL MY HEART AND FASHION MY LIFE INTO SOMETHING WONDERFUL FOR HIS GLORY AND MY BENEFIT, FOR ALL ETERNITY!” So, from that lesson, I learned that I wanted to make it my mission to share with everyone that God loves you, He knows you, you can be Saved and Gay, and God is at work to fashion your life into something amazing for His glory and your benefit for all eternity!
How has being LGBT shaped your outlook on life?
The women and men of our community are the most beautiful people in the world. The women have taught me how to roar, the men have taught me how to appreciate beauty, and both the men and women have taught me to honor, love, and respect one another. If they invented a pill today that made me “not-gay,” I would not take it. I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty that God has deposited into the soul of the LGBT community and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Tell us a little more about yourself. What are your hobbies? What are your goals?
I was raised in south Georgia by awesome, accepting parents. I’ve been married for 17 years to the most wonderful person in all the world, Pastor Johnny Layton-Morgan. I’ve worked full-time in ministry for 10 years, serving the most wonderful church family in the world, New Covenant Church of Atlanta, which has recently moved to its new location on Faulkner Road off of Cheshire Bridge Road. I am the lead director of the Covenant Network, which is a ministry supporting churches and ministries in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.
I love to fish, do some carpentry, and watch TV, especially the Sunday night animated shows, Family Guy, American Dad, and especially The Simpsons. I’m also a big fan of video games.
A few of my goals for the next 5 years are:
·To honor God and put Him first more than I ever have
·To continue to work with NCCA and the Covenant Network to develop new leaders; I want to see the number of our congregation, currently, become the number of our leadership team in the next 5-10 years
·To serve the church by continuing to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ with an emphasis on the LGBT (and S) revival
·To fit more time into my life to spend with my awesome spouse
·To develop a Foreign Missions Team, which will help facilitate carrying the message of being Saved And Gay throughout the world
·To help our youth ministry move forward in a much more vocal way throughout the city in order to PUT AN END to hopelessness among our LGBT youth
·To see the leadership of NCCA recognized for the amazing team that they are and see their particular areas of ministries and services promoted and utilized to their fullest potentials
·To have a kid
·To reach as many people as I possibly can with the Good News that God is for them, loves them dearly, and wants to have a relationship with each one of them
If you were stranded on a desert island, what’s the one book you would want with you?
The B-I-B-L-E; that’s the book for me.
